Burden of the Guardian
by Gryphinwyrm7
Summary: In the wake of the events of Miracle Queen, the Heroes and Villains of Paris are reeling from the consequences of Chloé's actions. Hawkmoth sets into motion a plan to force Ladybug's hand and Akumatize Paris's hero, while Marinette struggles handle her burden as the Guardian of the Miraculous. Originally Cross-Posted on A03.
1. Center Your Mind

I_'ve been exposed._

An Exposé From Rena Rouge  
Submitted Anonymously to the Ladyblog

_We've been compromised. Carapace, King Monkey, Pegasus, Viperion, Ryuuko, and myself were all exposed during Miracle Queen's Akumatization. No one saw who we were…except the people who should NEVER see who we were. Hawkmoth and Mayura._

_And Miracle Queen. AKA Chloe Bourgeois. Queen Bee. Who VOLUNTARILY allowed herself to be Akumatized in order to take over the city and commanded all of the Auxiliary Heroes like her little puppets._

_Ladybug can never call upon us again. We are too much of a liability…a risk. Hawkmoth would target our families and friends. I'm writing this knowing full well there's a chance that Chloe could expose my real name and Identity publicly. It's a risk I'm willing to take._

_Because we don't want the Mayor's daughter to get away with this. We don't want her treachery to go unpunished. We want justice. She sided with a megalomaniacal super-powered terrorist who has held our city hostage numerous times, and exposed the identities of six heroes to him, putting our families and us at risk._

"Nooroo," Gabriel said. "Dark Wings Rise."

The Butterfly Kwami was sucked into the brooch as magical energy surrounded Gabriel Agreste and transformed him into Hawkmoth. He stood in silence. Concentrating. Reaching out with his mind, pouring over the emotions of everyone in Paris…looking for something specific. Trying to find a very specific set of emotions that only one woman could be feeling.

"Sir…" A voice spoke softly from behind him. "Sir what are you doing?"

"Nathalie," Hawkmoth said without turning. "Why are you out of bed? You are in no condition to be walking around."

"What are you doing sir?" she repeated.

"Ladybug was declared the Guardian, lost her mentor, and her auxiliary heroes were exposed, and the weight of the world is upon her shoulders," Hawkmoth said, frowning. "She's never been in a better position to be Akumatized. If I can find those emotions, I'll have her at last."

"Let me help," Nathalie said, attempting to step forward, and stumbling slightly upon her crutches.

"No, Nathalie," Hawkmoth replied.

"You fixed the Peacock though…" She said. "Surely with both of our empathic powers combined…"

"The Peacock is fixed," Hawkmoth interrupted. "You are not. And as such, you are in no condition to wield it. Still…the idea itself has merit."

Hawkmoth considered his last fight with Ladybug and Chat Noir.

He reached over and picked up the peacock miraculous, pinning it to his suit. Nathalie's eyes widened.

"Nooroo," He said. "Duusu. Unify!"

Duusu was immediately sucked into the peacock pin, and Hawkmoth's outfit gained a series of Peacock accents.

Hawkmoth staggered for a moment, overwhelmed by the crashing wave of Duusu's powers. Ladybug and Chat Noir were stronger than he thought, if they were able to take the strain of two Miraculous at once…but it didn't matter. His empathic powers were indeed enhanced.

"Excellent," Hawkmoth said, smiling. He closed his eyes. Crushing weight. Extreme loneliness. THERE. That had to be her. That HAD to be Ladybug. He reached out and scooped up a butterfly. Preparing to pour his power into it…and then the emotions just vanished.

"What?" He said. He concentrated harder…but found nothing.

"No that had to be Ladybug," he demanded. "That had to be her! Where did she go?!"

Hawkmoth threw his sword cane to the ground in frustration.

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Marinette Dupain-Cheng was meditating with her mother. Her mother meditated every morning, before starting work with Marinette's father in the bakery. Marinette had joined her a few times in the past, but ever since she had inherited the Miracle Box from Master Fu, she had made it a habit of joining her mom every morning.

She had to, as far as she was concerned. There had been a few close calls with Akuma in the past few months, and with the additional responsibility of the Miracle Box, Marinette was taking no chances that Hawkmoth's corrupted butterflies could get anywhere near her. As she meditated and centered herself, she felt all her worries slowly evaporate. The weight of the Miracle Box. The Loss of her Allies. Master Fu's memories. Adrien and Kagami's new relationship. It all vanished.

She centered herself and let her mind come into sharp clear focus. She had her emotions in check, and was ready to face the day.

"You'd better get ready for school, dear," Sabine said quietly.

"Thanks _maman_," Marinette said, smiling at her mother as she got up from the yoga mat that they had set up in the living room.

"I've really enjoyed our meditation sessions together, honey," Sabine called after her daughter.

"I've enjoyed that I haven't been late to school once since we started," Marinette winked at her mother conspiratorially. Marinette quietly made her way up the stairs to her attic bedroom, where Tikki was watching the news on her laptop.

"No Akumas?" Marinette asked as she began changing her clothes for school.

"Mmm-mmm," Tikki said. "Not in almost a month now."

"I think that scares me more than anything else," Marinette said. "What is he waiting for?"

"I have no idea-" Tikki started to say, but stopped suddenly upon seeing something on Marinette's laptop. The Kwami shot forward and immediately turned up the volume on the computer.

"In international news," Nadia Chamack said. "Two new superheroes debuted in the city of New Orleans in the United States over this weekend. They call themselves 'Scarlet Phoenix' and 'Kirin Ryu', and have already made a name for themselves breaking up a human-trafficking ring, and President Hombee is talking about inducting them into…"

"IT'S BENNU AND HAART!" Tikki squeaked excitedly.

"Who?" Marinette asked curiously.

"The Kwamis of the Phoenix and Stag Miraculous!" Tikki exclaimed.

"Phoenix and Stag?!" Marinette glanced over towards the large wooden hatbox (With a built-in booby-trap similar to that of her diary box.) where she was keeping the Miracle Box, having not touched it since she put the Miraculous that Chloe had stolen back.

"They're from a different Miracle Box," Tikki explained. "Marinette, do you know what this means? The Order of the Guardians has begun choosing heroes again!"

"OH!" Marinette said, pausing the video to take a closer look at the two new Miraculous Heroes.

"Tikki…" Marinette said quietly. "Should I…Should I be going to the temple for training?"

"Eventually, maybe," Tikki said. "But not until Hawkmoth's threat has ended. Your first duty has to be to Paris. The Guardians won't respect you if you don't put that first."

Marinette nodded. "I understand Tikki. I just wanted to let them know about Master Fu."

"I'm pretty sure that they already know," Tikki said quietly. "Master Fu left contingencies in place for passing the box onto you; so I'm quite sure he did the same for sending them a message."

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Marinette was already sitting at her desk and sketching in her notebook when Alya walked into the classroom, chatting with Nino and Lila. Marinette tried very hard to ignore the silent daggers Lila surreptitiously shot at Marinette as she made her way up to her seat.

"Girl," Alya exclaimed. "You have been at school early for the last month. Who are you and what have you done with Marinette Dupain-Cheng?"

"I've been meditating with my mom in the morning," Marinette admitted. "So have to get up early to do that. But it's been a real blessing in disguise. Helps prepare me for my day. Center my mind."

"Calm your emotions?" Alya asked, glancing at the door as Adrien and Kagami stood in it. The two of them took turns walking each other to their classrooms. Kagami kissed Adrien on the cheek, and walked away as Adrien entered the room.

"Among other things," Marinette said, smiling to herself. "Good morning, Adrien."

"Morning ladies," Adrien said, sitting down at his desk next to Nino.

"You sure you're okay girl?" Alya asked.

"I'm fine Alya," Marinette said. "It was a crush. Seriously. I'll be fine."

_Besides,_ Marinette thought to herself. _I could live off the seething rage coming from Lila right now. Sure, it's not me with Adrien; but more importantly, it's not her either._

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Kagami exited her classroom, prepared to track down her boyfriend and have lunch with him, when she saw Alya grab Marinette's hand and duck down under a stairwell.

Kagami hadn't really spoken to Marinette since the former had started dating Adrien. Truthfully…She was racked with guilt. She knew that Marinette had feelings for Adrien…and she couldn't bring herself to talk to her only other friend.

The guilt had made Kagami miserable. Not miserable enough to even consider breaking up with Adrien, or talking to Marinette, but miserable nonetheless. The time she spent with Adrien was pretty much the only happy points in her life at the moment. Even fencing wasn't bringing her the joy that it used to.

_What kind of woman does that to her friend?_ Kagami tried not to think.

Swallowing her pride, Kagami approached the stairwell, hoping to work up the nerve to actually talk to Marinette. Though she didn't even think far enough ahead to consider what subject they might actually talk about.

It ended up not mattering, since she froze when she heard Alya's words…

"So now that Adrien is off the market," Alya was saying. "Are you gonna make a move on a certain guitarist?"

_Yes, Are you? If you started dating Luka then maybe my guilt would abate._

"No, Alya," Marinette replied.

Kagami sank.

"Luka is very sweet," Marinette admitted. "But I don't think I'm ready for a relationship. Not with him…or…anyone really. I've got…too much going on in my life right now. And I wrapped up so much of my time trying to get Adrien to notice me…I think it's for the best if I figure out myself right now. No boys. Just me. Just Marinette."

"You're telling me, that if Model-Boy broke up with Kagami right now," Alya asked. "And then declared his undying love for you, you wouldn't be all over that?"

"Absolutely not, Alya," Marinette said. "Kagami is my friend. You don't date your friend's exes. They're happy together, so I'm happy FOR them, even if not for myself. But Adrien is a closed door. He's off the table forever."

Kagami broke inside. She could feel her soul shatter apart into a million tiny pieces.

The Japanese girl spun around and ran away from Alya and Marinette's conversation, quickly finding an empty classroom and locking herself in.

She allowed herself a single loud sob before composing her mind. It was never a good idea to be overly emotional in Paris. Even if there hadn't been an Akuma in a month.

_Marinette is a better friend then I am. _Kagami realized_. A better friend and a better person than I could ever be. And I have avoided her._

"On my family honor," Kagami said quietly. "Somehow. Some way…I will figure out a way to make it up to her."

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Chat Noir pole vaulted across a rooftop, landing softly next to Ladybug, who was sitting atop Notre Dame Cathedral, looking contemplatively out at the Seine.

"Evening Milady," Chat said. "And how are we doing tonight?"

"Better, I think," Ladybug said after about a minute of silence. "It wasn't great…what happened to Master Fu, or our allies. But I think I'm finally in a good headspace to begin picking up the pieces."

"There hasn't been an Akuma in a month," Chat Noir commented.

"Nope." Marinette said. "He's waiting for something. I don't know what, but we can't let our guard down. Especially since we can't call on any of the reserves again."

"We could always call on Multimouse," Chat commented. "Marinette was the only temporary hero who didn't get summoned to Miracle Queen's side, for whatever reason. So she's still safe—thank God—Hawkmoth doesn't know about her."

"But her identity was exposed, Kitty," Ladybug started to argue.

"Yeah," Chat retorted. "It was exposed to me. No one else saw. If it didn't matter for Viperion, Pegasus, and Ryuuko, then I don't see why it should matter for Multimouse. I can even play delivery-cat if you want."

"I'll…Think about it," Ladybug stammered. "Marinette is still pretty clumsy though…"

"Maybe," Chat shrugged. "But she's still smart, brave, sharp, quick on the uptake, and capable of following your crazy plans to a tee. Kind of makes her ideal, actually."

"Kitty," Ladybug chuckled. "Do you have a crush on Marinette?"

Chat Noir shrugged. "She's a mouse. I'm a cat. It's instinct. But seriously, she's awesome, and the only ally we've got left."

Ladybug flushed and looked away. "Fair enough."

_How the heck am I going to get out of this one?_ Ladybug thought.

"I…Um…I guess I should mention," Chat said quietly. "That…I have a girlfriend now."

"Really Kitty," Ladybug rolled her eyes. "Trying to make me jealous again?"

"Not…not…this time," Chat said. "I really do have a girlfriend."

"Is it Marinette?" Ladybug said teasingly, clearly still not believing Chat.

"Heh, no," Chat said. "It's…. Someone else."

"Oh my God, you're serious," Ladybug said, blinking at Chat Noir.

"Guilty," Chat said abashedly.

"Chat that's…wow…I was not expecting that," Ladybug said.

"Yeah…" Chat said. "I just figured that…you ought to know. Can't really call you Bugaboo anymore when this kitty's no longer on the market."

"In fairness," Ladybug said. "You couldn't call me Bugaboo before either."

Chat let out a Cheshire grin. "What about you Milady? You and your mystery man?"  
Ladybug sighed. "There is no me and mystery-man. He's…. well he's also seeing someone else now."

"Oh…Milady… I'm so sorry," Chat said blinking. "I didn't think that…"

"It's fine Chat," Ladybug said. "It's for the best anyway. I'm the Guardian now. It's kind of more important than silly teenage relationships."

"So…you're just not going to date anyone ever again?" Chat joked.

"That's the plan," Ladybug replied.

A look of horror crossed over Chat Noir's face. "Oh my God, you're serious," he said echoing her words from earlier.

"Chat, a relationship requires communication and honesty," Ladybug said. "But being a Guardian is a burden and responsibility that would absolutely prevent that kind of communication and honesty. Even more than just being a superhero would. Because I'm not just a superhero anymore. I'm more. So…yeah. A relationship…really not in the cards for this bug. It would never be safe."

Chat was silent for several minutes, taking in what she was saying to him.

"Do you need to know my identity?" he finally asked. "For the whole…Guardian thing, I mean?"

"Eventually," Ladybug said. "When Hawkmoth is defeated, and we reclaim his Miraculous, and put ours back in the Miracle Box, then I'll need to know your identity."

Chat nodded quietly.

"But we're partners first, Kitty," Ladybug said. "Ladybug and Chat Noir. But when that day comes…I promise I won't leave you out. You'll get to know my identity too. I promise."

Chat stared off into the city. "I'd like that, Milady."

"I thought you might," Ladybug said smiling. "I'm going to head home. I need to get some sleep. I think you do too, Kitty."

Ladybug flung her yoyo out and swung off the bell tower and into the night.

Chat Noir stared quietly into the inky black Seine.

_Ladybug is never going to be in a relationship? That's…awful. I get my first girlfriend at the same time she decides that she can never date? What kind of partner am I? I have a lot to think about…_

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"Nooroo, Duusu, divide," Hawkmoth, said, divesting himself of the Peacock powers. "Dark wings fall."

The Butterfly Miraculous released Nooroo and Gabriel Agreste stood in Hawkmoth's place.

"Why can't I find her…the emotions should be so obvious?"

"I do not know master," Nooroo said. "I am not her. I can't say or even understand what she is feeling at the moment."

Gabriel scowled and turned towards the elevator, scattering butterflies as he walked.

"It's becoming clear that I can't Akumatize Ladybug from just her baseline emotions. She's found some way of dealing with them. I need another tactic…something…"

Gabriel paused. "The temporary Miraculous Holders. I know who they are. Which means that Ladybug does too…IF I go after them…Then maybe I can stir up Ladybug's emotions enough to Akumatize her. She's almost there already. Standing at a precipice. She just needs a nudge…"

"Mark my words, Ladybug," Gabriel said smiling. "Soon I will Akumatize you. And once I do, the Ladybug and Black Cat Miraculous will be mine, and I will finally get my wish."


	2. Moving Targets

_Don't be bemused, it's just the news, this is Nadia Chamack reporting live from the Grand Paris Hotel where protestors have been gathering for several days now, ever since the anonymous exposés from several of Paris Supporting heroes have accused Mayor Bourgeois's daughter; Chloe Bourgeois of siding with Hawkmoth and exposing their secret identities to him._

_Mayor Bourgeois and his wife Fashion Designer Audrey Bourgeois were Akumatized into the monster Heart Hunter just hours before the alleged attack by Miracle Queen. So far the Ladyblog has received anonymous submissions from individuals purporting to be Rena Rouge, Carapace, Pegasus, and King Monkey, all claiming that Chloe Bourgeois exposed their identities to Hawkmoth. The police are currently investigating these accusations, but no member of the Bourgeois Family has been available for comment; and Chloe Bourgeois has not been seen in public since the first accusation by Rena Rouge two weeks ago._

"You know, Milady," Chat Noir declared as he slashed at the swarm of pigeons surrounding him, he paused, and then let out a violent sneeze. "I think I preferred the month of no Akumas."

Ladybug didn't respond, as she was busy scanning the Louvre Courtyard, looking for something.

"I mean…three Akumas in 5 hours? What? Is he trying to make up for lost time?" Chat Noir continued.

"There!" Ladybug declared suddenly. She pointed towards Alix Kubdel and Max Kanté as well as Max's robot Markov huddled behind the Louvre Pyramid.

"Kitty," Ladybug said turning towards her partner. "Can you get Mr. Pigeon's whistle without using a Cataclysm?"

"As you wish, Milady," Chat said, his signature Cheshire Grin spreading across his face.

Chat ran forward and launched his baton, extending it in front of him as he pole vaulted upwards, putting himself at eye-level with Mr. Pigeon. Chat casually snatched the bird whistle from around the Akuma's neck and smashed it between his fingers. Mr. Ramier immediately shifted back into himself, and Chat snatched him out of the air as the pigeons scattered. He gently placed Mr. Ramier onto the ground and joined Ladybug at the base of the Pyramid next to Alix, Max, and Markov.

"Miraculous Ladybug!" Ladybug declared, tossing her yoyo into the air. A wave of magical Ladybugs swarmed throughout the city, immediately undoing the damage—what little there was—in an instant.

"Are you two okay?" Ladybug asked Alix and Max.

"Affirmative," Max said. "No harm done."

"But he was after you, wasn't he?" Ladybug pressed.

"It is my fault Ladybug," Markov said. "I did not realize my presence would upset the pigeons so much."

"Hey!" Alix snapped. "It is NOT your fault that guy is so hyper-focused on pigeons. If the guy took a chill-pill every-"

"Wait!" Chat Noir said suddenly grinning from ear to ear. "Are you two on a date?"

Alix and Max immediately looked panic stricken.

"NO!"

"NEGATIVE!"

"Affirmative," Markov chimed in.

Ladybug and Chat Noir exchanged a look and tried to contain their laughter.

"Look," Alix said. "We're just…hanging out, okay? In a Kim-is-with-his-girlfriend-and-Max-is-pretty-cool kind of way."

Max immediately blushed, "87% of collége and lycée relationships do not last until adulthood. But I enjoy Alix's company, so we are…hanging out. Casually. But, I would not necessarily call this a date. Per say."

"But this morning you said-" Markov started to comment.

"MARKOV MUTE!" Max yelped, blushing more furiously.

"Hey we're superheroes," Chat said shrugging. "We're not going to judge who you do or do not date."

"We just don't want it getting out at school," Alix said. "Some of our classmates are like…hyper fixated on relationships or whatever. I love my friends to pieces, but I definitely don't want Rose or Marinette going overboard on…romance stuff."

"Agreed," Max said, pushing his glasses up the brim of his nose.

"My lips are sealed," Ladybug said.

"Who would I even tell?" Chat asked out loud.

"The pigeons will keep your secret," Mr. Ramier said, embarrassedly. "I am sorry for ruining your….ahem…Not-Date. Can I make it up to you? Buy you some ice cream?"

Max and Alix nodded as Mr. Ramier gestured towards André Glacier's Ice Cream cart.

"First there was that shark that attacked Kim and Ondine at their swim meet," Ladybug said to Chat as Alix and Max walked away towards the cart.

"And then Nino was attacked by a Re-Akumatized Animan," Chat replied. "And both victims said that they weren't THAT angry and were surprised to be Akumatized in the first place."

"And now Max," Ladybug said. "Technically Alix too, but Hawkmoth doesn't know about her, because I haven't recruited her yet. But once is chance, twice is coincidence, but three times is enemy action."

"It's pretty obvious isn't it," Chat said. "Hawkmoth is targeting our Reserve Heroes."

Ladybug nodded grimly.

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Adrien felt guilty.

He was sitting in the courtyard at Francois Dupont High, waiting for Kagami's last class—which was running long—to get out so that they could walk to fencing together.

He really enjoyed the time that he spent with Kagami, even if something felt off.

He liked Kagami a lot. Cute Asian girls who could kick his ass was his type, he supposed. But he still felt wracked with guilty when he spent time with her. He was moving on from Ladybug. He felt sure of that much, at least. His heart didn't pound like crazy when he was around her. At least…not all of the time.

But Ladybug's confession the other night, that she had given up pursuing romance of any kind weighed heavily on his soul. Combined with the knowledge that Hawkmoth was now actively targeting his friends…Guilt was starting to become his default state.

"I hope you weren't waiting too long," Kagami said, smiling and sitting down next to him.

"You were worth the wait," Adrien said smiling. _Smooth._

They sat in an uncomfortable silence for a moment, before he climbed to his feet and offered his hand to Kagami's and helped her back up. He took her hand in his as they started walking together.

Kagami stopped and stepped in front of him. Leaning in for a kiss. Adrien hesitated for a moment, but then leaned in to return the kiss.

And blinked in surprise as Kagami stepped away.

"You hesitated again," Kagami said softly.

"I'm sorry Gami," Adrien said. "I just…have a lot on my mind."

"You always hesitate when we kiss," Kagami said. "It hurts me. I put 100% of my being into everything I do. Including my relationship. I am all in. But…are you?"

Adrien's brain wasn't processing what Kagami said fast enough.

"Adrien I can't have a relationship with 50% of a person. If…if you can't be present for your partner…then what is the point?" Kagami insisted.

"I…wait…" Adrien said, his brain desperately trying to catch up. "Kagami…are…are you breaking up with me?"

Kagami looked very surprised, but then considered. "I…I never thought I'd say this…but yes. I think that I am. I've had this feeling dangling over our relationship since it began. I think that you feel it too."

Adrien was floored, and then wracked with even more guilt as he realized that a part of him felt relieved. In his heart, he knew that he just didn't feel about Kagami the same way she felt for him. As much as he'd tried to.

But he could see the tears welling up in Kagami's eyes. She spun around turning to walk away from him, but then stopped.

"Social convention dictates," Kagami said hesitantly—which scared Adrien to his soul, since Kagami never hesitated. "That one should wait a length of time equal to half of the length of the relationship before pursuing another one. We were together a month and six days. I believe then, that you should wait two weeks and three days before you ask Marinette out."

"Marinette?" Adrien asked, utterly confused by this statement.

"Do not think I have not noticed, Adrien," Kagami said. "You always speak so highly of her. You even bring her up as a topic of conversation, completely unprompted. Your face lights up when she enters a room. It is a look that I was hoping to see on your face whenever I was present…but in a month of being with you, and I never have. Do not be so foolish with her as you were with me, Adrien. She's the only other woman I've met who was worthy of you."

"Kagami," Adrien started to say, but the Japanese girl bolted up the stairs before he had the chance to say anything else.

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Kagami found herself in the same classroom that she had locked herself in the other day after overhearing Alya and Marinette's conversation. She collapsed in front of the door, and finally, in a wave of guilt, and pain, and partial relief, she began sobbing uncontrollably. She pulled out a cloth handkerchief from her pocket and began sobbing into it.

She had broken up with Adrien. SHE had dumped him. She couldn't believe that she'd done that. After all this time pursuing him…and she had dumped him? And it wasn't as if she didn't still have feelings for him. But what was the point of the feelings if he didn't return them? What was the point of any of-

_Oni-Chan._ A familiar deep voice spoke in Kagami's head, and her eyes snapped open in shock and horror. The neon outline of the butterfly icon had appeared over her face.

_I am Hawkmoth. He purred in her head. Your heart has been broken by someone who you thought you could love. I'm granting you the power to-_

"NO!" Kagami yelled indignantly, throwing her handkerchief to the floor.

_What?_ Hawkmoth's voice echoed in her mind in surprise.

"I am not Oni-Chan. Or Riposte. Or any villain that you would make of me. I am more than my negative emotions. I am not a petty brat who you can manipulate, like Chloe. I am Kagami Tsurugi! I am Ryuuko. I am the Dragon of the Storm, and if you give me powers Hawkmoth, it is not Adrien I will hunt! It is YOU!"

Then Kagami felt something she hadn't before. She could sense Hawkmoth's emotions on the other end of the connection. And she had scarred him.

The butterfly ejected from her handkerchief, and turned white on its own, calmly flittering away.

"My God," Kagami whispered. "Did I just…reject Hawkmoth?"

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"I'm just saying," Alya said to Marinette as they gathered their books to depart the classroom. "That if you wanted, I bet that Luka would…"

"Alya!" Marinette said insistently. "I'm not going to date Luka. I'm not going to date anyone. I just want to be me for a while. That's not wrong."

"Okay, I'll be honest," Alya said. "This on-time, not-Adrien-obsessed mature Marinette is scaring me. I kind of miss your wacky shenanigans."

"Sorry Alya," Marinette said. "The adventures of Marinette the Phone-Stealing-Stalker are done for good."

"Marinette," Marinette and Alya stopped in surprise as Kagami was now standing in the doorway in front of them.

"You are the girl who runs the…Ladyblog, yes?" Kagami said looking at Alya pointedly.

"Yes that's me," Alya said.

"I truly enjoyed the exposés from the Auxiliary heroes that have been coming out," Kagami said. "I even heard a rumor that you might get one from…Ryuuko, the Dragon Hero soon."

Alya's eyes widened. "Ah…Yes. That's a real possibility. But I can't confirm or deny anything of that nature. Marinette…can I um…Talk to Kagami alone for a minute?"

Marinette covered up a grin, as she tried to pretend that she didn't understand exactly what just happened here.

"Before you depart, Marinette," Kagami said. "You should know…I broke up with Adrien."

"Wait, what?" Marinette yelped in surprise. "Why?!"

"It's…personal," Kagami said. "However…I know that…I know that you believe it would be dishonorable to pursue a relationship with the ex-boyfriend of friend."

"Um…" Marinette stuttered.

"Let me relieve you of that guilt," Kagami said. "I will not be, in any way upset-That is not true. Let me rephrase. IF you wish to pursue a relationship with Adrien. You have my blessing and permission. And I swear it won't impact our friendship. I believe that the Americans say 'Sisters before misters'."

"Kagami that's really sweet," Marinette started to say.

"I may have even encouraged Adrien to ask you out in two and a half weeks," Kagami said.

"What?" Marinette said.

"Dang girl," Alya said. "You are a good friend."

"Marinette is a better friend than I am," Kagami insisted. "I only hope one day to match her."

"Okay," Marinette said. "But I'm serious about the whole Marinette is Marinette thing. It's sweet that you're okay with me dating Adrien. But…if he asks me. Which I sort of doubt…I'm probably going to turn him down. I need to be…me. I need to be just Marinette for a while. That's okay right?"

Kagami and Alya exchanged a glance.

"It's beyond okay, M," Alya said. "You do whatever's right for you."

"Cool," Marinette said. "I'll let you guys talk about…dragons or whatever you were going to talk about."

Marinette smiled and ducked out the door.

"So…" Alya said, turning towards Kagami. "Ryuuko, huh?"

"And you are Rena Rouge," Kagami replied quietly. "And I think that Hawkmoth is targeting us—Ladybug's reserve heroes. He tried to—and failed—to Akumatize me after I broke up with Adrien."

"Wait, you fought off an Akumatization?" Alya gasped in surprise.

"Yes and was exhausting," Kagami replied.

"Tell me everything!"

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"Tikki, Spot's on!" Marinette cried out as Tikki was sucked into the earrings and a wave of magical energy flowed over her, transforming Marinette into Ladybug.

She checked the clock in her yoyo and smirked.

_Still an hour before I have to meet Chat, _she thought to herself.

That's when she noticed a cloaked figure staring up at her from across the street in front of the school. Marinette was certain that the figure hadn't seen her transform, but was also just as certain that they were staring at her.

"Who wears a cloak in the 21rst century?" she wondered out loud.

A bus passed in front of the figure and in that instant, he or she vanished. Marinette's heart skipped a beat.

"What in the world was that?" she murmured.


	3. Realizations

_The City is calling it Sweet Sixteen Serenade by the Seine, sixteen music artists in a floating concert barge traveling down the river, for all of Paris to listen to. The concerts themselves are free, however backstage passes (for the Concert Barge itself) are not; and will be extremely difficult to come by. Critics are calling this a distraction effort by the mayor to pull attention away from the investigation into the allegations surrounding Mayor Bourgeois's daughter and her supposed collaboration with Hawkmoth._

"Are you okay Kitty?" Ladybug asked as she swung from on rooftop to the next, Chat Noir steadily keeping pace.

"Kitty?" Ladybug repeated. "You're starting to worry me."

Chat Noir remained quiet. Keeping pace, but clearly only on autopilot. The ebon clad superhero was lost in his own thoughts.

Ladybug came to a stop and Chat automatically stopped with her, then paused and looked around.

"What's wrong?" he said.

"What's wrong is that I've tried to talk to you twice and you didn't reply either time. Are you sure you're okay Kitty?" Ladybug demanded.

Chat tried to brush it off, immediately putting up a defensive wall. "Nice to know you care, Bugaboo."

"I thought you weren't going to be 'Bugabooing' me anymore," Ladybug demanded, putting her hands on her hips. "On account of the girlfriend."

Chat grimaced. Which Ladybug immediately picked up on.

"Oh Chat! I'm so sorry!" Ladybug gasped, her hands covering her mouth. "Is that why you were so distracted?"

"Fine," Chat groaned. "Yes. We broke up. Yes, that's why I'm distracted. And yes, it had something to do with my double-life. Not wholely…but I wasn't invested in the relationship. And she noticed."

"That sucks, Chat," Ladybug said, placing a comforting hand on her friend's shoulder.

"Yeah…It really sucks. I thought I was just…well…I guess it doesn't matter now. Maybe I should join you in your vow of celibacy. Partner solidarity and all."

"Chat, no!" Ladybug exclaimed. "I'm the guardian. That's a burden that I can't share. Not with anyone. But it's different for you. Maybe your girlfriend didn't know what she had, but that doesn't mean that you should give up your happiness."

"You shouldn't either, Ladybug," Chat said quietly. "Yeah I know it sucks being the Guardian…but…maybe you shouldn't turn away every suitor who comes your way, you know?"

Ladybug gave Chat a look.

"No!" Chat held up his hands. "Not me. I swear I'm…well let's just say after this last trainwreck of a relationship, I am not ready for one. Clearly. But you're one of my best friends, and I'd hate to see you sad and alone for the rest of your life."

"Chat," Ladybug said quietly. "I can't afford a relationship. As the Guardian, I will eventually have to pass that duty along to another. Just like Master Fu. When that happens…I'm going to lose all my memories, just like he did. I can't put someone through that. I won't."

Ladybug collapsed into a heap, tears beginning to form in her eyes. "So you see…It's not just the burden. It's how it's going to end. Because in the end…even if I were to find someone special enough to share my secrets with…they'd still lose me one day."

"I'm so sorry, Bugaboo," Chat said, quietly pulling her into a hug. "Here I am wasting my breath on a failed relationship, when you have the weight of the world on your shoulders."

"Promise me you'll find someone, Kitty," Ladybug said. "Someone amazing, who really appreciates you. Promise me that, so that I know that at least you'll be happy with someone. Even if I'm not."

"Planning to live vicariously through your partner, Bugaboo?" Chat chuckled.

"You bet I am," Ladybug said smiling. "Now if we're done talking about the crapshoots that are our love lives…Strategy?"

Chat released her, and got to his feet, pacing back and forth. "Okay, point one. Jerkmoth is targeting our friends. He's sending Akumas after the Reserve heroes. But to what end? They never knew enough about us to know who we were or anything like that."

"He may trying to draw us out," Ladybug said, now that they were discussing 'business' she could feel her mind clearing. "Or maybe see if any of the former holders have a connection? A person in common in their lives?"

"Oh God I hope not," Chat muttered.

"You know them personally too, don't you?" Ladybug said.

"For safety reasons, I can neither confirm nor deny that I know any of our temporary Miraculous Holders on a personal level," Chat said.

"Good Kitty," Ladybug replied smiling.

"But confidentially…if Hawkmoth picks at that thread, he might find me," Chat said earnestly.

"Yeah," Ladybug replied quietly. "He might find me too. As if I needed more stress in my life."

"Oh no!" Chat said suddenly. "That's not why he's doing this! It's so obvious! He's TRYING to stress you out Bugaboo!"

"Keep calling me Bugaboo, and that's going to stress me out," Ladybug snapped.

"Milady," Chat said. "I think that he's trying to Akumatize you."

"Oh shit," Ladybug muttered. "If he keeps heading down this path, It'll work."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Chat Noir leapt in through the window into his room.

"Plagg, claws in," he said, letting his transformation drop. He reached into his pocket and tossed a small chunk of camembert to his kwami before Plagg could start whining.

"Sweet dreams are made of cheese! Who am I to diss a brie? Everyone is looking for stilton!" Plagg started singing in English.

"Those aren't the lyrics to that song, Plagg," Adrien said, quietly collapsing onto his sofa.

"I've improved them," Plagg said, happily munching on his cheese. "The world needs more songs about cheese. You think maybe you can convince one of those musician friends of yours to sing the song?"

Adrien rolled his eyes.

"Still thinking about what Ladybug said," Plagg laughed. "I thought that you guys came up with a pretty good plan, personally. Really make Hawkmoth regret targeting your friends."

"Yeah, maybe," Adrien said. "I am thinking about what Ladybug said. But not about that part. About…finding someone special."

"Dragon-Girl was pretty special," Plagg said.

"Kagami dumped me, remember," Adrien said quietly.

"Yeah, I remember. I was in your pocket the whole time. Was kissing her really that bad?" Plagg asked.

"No," Adrien admitted. "Kissing her was…fun. But…I don't know. I just…didn't feel the same…spark I do—or did—whenever I'm around Ladybug. So…If I'm going to do what she said. I need to find someone…really incredible. Even more than Kagami."

"Like…Pigtails?" Plagg commented, trying to sound innocent.

"Marinette?" Adrien asked frowning.

"I didn't say anything," Plagg said.

"Marinette is pretty incredible," Adrien said quietly. "Kagami seemed to think that I had feelings for her."

"Not just Kagami," Plagg pointed out. "Or do you remember what Ladybug said when you brought up Multimouse?"

"Huh," Adrien said, as if wheels in his head were turning. Plagg began to smile wickedly.

"Even I was impressed with Multimouse," Plagg said chuckling. "Not every superhero can lead an army of Kwamis to victory on a wing and a prayer."

_And wielding sixteen Miraculouses at once_, Plagg added silently.

"Well…I mean…Marinette IS amazing like all the time," Adrien said. "She designed Jagged Stone's Album Cover—Impressed my father and Chloe's mom, both hard to do—Designed all of Kitty Section's outfits too. Literally one of the best Mecha-Strike players in the city…"

"You're gushing," Plagg said, chuckling to himself.

Adrien sat bolt upright. "Plagg…do I have a crush on Marinette?"

"Hmmm…A completely obvious crush that even I, your ex-girlfriend, and Ladybug can see plain as day?" Plagg asked mockingly. "I don't know. It's hard to say. Maybe you should gush about her some more?"

"I do, don't I?" Adrien said. "And everyone can see it…arrrgh. I'm so dumb. Why didn't I see it before? I think I would have preferred dating her to Kagami. Oh God does that sound horrible?"

Plagg shrugged. "Well, now that you know…I think your ex said two weeks and three days is the right amount of waiting time…"

"Isn't she with Luka though?" Adrien wondered.

Plagg shook his head. "All I do all day is sit in your messenger bag and listen to gossip. Snake-boy LIKES Pigtails, but she doesn't feel the same way. Now the question is…what are you going to do about it?"

Adrien blinked. "I…have no idea."

Plagg groaned. "What did I do to deserve this? This is karma for the dinosaurs isn't it?"

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Alya led Kagami into the art classroom, where three guys and one girl were chatting next to the pottery kiln.

"Kagami," Alya said. "This is Max, Kim, Alix, and my boyfriend Nino. Or as we're sometimes called…Pegasus, King Monkey, Bunnyx, and Carapace."

"Hello," Kagami said, suddenly feeling self-conscious and shy. "I am…Kagami. Or…Ryuuko."

Her eyes narrowed upon Alix.

"Technically I haven't been recruited yet," Alix said, fidgeting with…a pocketwatch? "But Bunnyx's powers are time-travel related. She came from the future. So…I know what's GOING to happen. Someday."

"No Viperion then?" Kagami asked, frowning.

"Luka had band practice," Alya said. "He was invited. He knows what's happening here."

"And what is happening here?" Kim asked. "Because…I'm honestly still confused."

"We were all temporary heroes," Alya said. "All of us called to Ladybug's side when she needed us, but now that we're exposed…Hawkmoth is targeting us. And there's nothing we can do about it. Because we're not heroes anymore."

"No!" Kagami said, forcefully. "The premise of your statement is incorrect. It was never about the Miraculous. Ladybug gave us use of the Miraculous to give us powers. But that didn't make us Heroes. We did that on our own."

The other heroes grinned.

"So," Kagami said, looking around at them. "What we need to do…Is prove to Hawkmoth, that messing with heroes, with or without Miraculous…is a bad idea."


	4. Fox in the Henhouse

_From the desk of Marlena Césaire; Chef du Cuisine Grand Paris Hotel_

_I herby tender my resignation, effective immediately. After discussions with my family and recent events that have come to light, I no longer feel safe working at the Grand Paris. I regret that it has come to this, but the safety of my family must come first. I have already accepted employment at Le Chevre, a new 5 star restaurant that recently opened, and will not be returning to the Grand Paris after my shift ends tonight at midnight._

_From the Desk of Sean Gettler; Sous-chef du Cuisine Grand Paris Hotel_

_I quit. I'm not working anywhere near that selfish brat who sold out Paris to a madman in a butterfly costume. I'm going to work at Le Chevre with Marlena._

_From the Desk of Charles Coffin IV; Poissionnier_

_I'm putting in my two weeks notice, starting today. I have no intention of working anywhere near that psycho for a moment longer than I have to. I hear that Le Chevre is looking for a new seafood chef…_

_From the Desk…._

Ladybug swung around the roof of the Bakery and came to a nimble landing atop her rooftop balcony and garden.

"Tikki, Spots off," she declared as the transformation dropped. She handed Tikki a macaron from her bag and climbed down into her room, just in time to see her mother poke her head in through the trapdoor.

"Marinette, dear," Sabine said. "There's someone here to see you!"

Marinette blinked in surprise. "Um. Okay. I'll be right down."

"What's in the oversized hatbox?" Sabine asked curiously, noticing the new addition to Marinette's desk.

"It's a secret!" Marinette said conspiratorially.

"Okay dear," Sabine said, and she climbed down the ladder.

"It's such a good thing that your mother trusts you," Tikki chirped from Marinette's bag. Marinette nodded in agreement and followed her mom down the step-ladder.

Jagged stone was in the Dupain-Cheng family kitchen.

"There she is!" Jagged said excitedly. "There's my favorite designer!"

Jagged Stone rushed forward and swept Marinette up in a hug.

"Hi Jagged!" Marinette said as her favorite rock star squished her, before breaking the hug and stepping back.

"You heard about the musical shindig down by the river at the end of the month, right?" Jagged asked.

"You mean Mayor Bourgeois's distraction from what his daughter did?" Marinette said dryly.

"Yep! That's the one!" Jagged said smiling. "Each of the artists performing are allowed two guest passes—that's passes for people who aren't part of their crew or band like Vivica or Penny—I couldn't think of anyone I wanted to give mine to other than my favorite designer of my favorite glasses!"

Jagged handed Marinette four laminated passes. Marinette frowned.

"I thought you said you only had two guest passes?" Marinette said.

"I do! Turns out Clara Nightingale ALSO wanted to give you her passes," Jagged said grinning wildly.

"Really," Marinette looked down at the passes.

"She also mentioned that she LOVED the work you did on my last album cover, and was wondering if you'd be interested in doing her next one," Jagged said. "Told her I'd pass the message along."

"I'd be honored," Marinette said.

"Great, I'll give her your number," Jagged said. "See you later this month, Marinette. Stay Rock and Roll!"

Jagged turned and disappeared out the door of the Dupain-Cheng apartment in a flurry of leather and body spray. Marinette looked down at the passes in her hand for a moment and then smiled to herself, tucking the passes into her purse.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Once again, Marinette found herself early for school, a common occurrence since her meditation sessions with her mom had begun. She made her way to her locker and began putting her books in it from last night, and taking books out of it for her homeroom class.

"Adrien broke up with that stupid fencer," a high pitched voice with a faint Italian accent commented.

Marinette sighed as she pulled out her last book, and looked at Lila with an expression of exasperation on her face. It was too early in the morning to deal with Lila right now.

"Actually Kagami broke up with him," Marinette said. "Though I don't see why you felt the need to share with me."

"It's only a matter of time before he's mine, Marinette," Lila purred.

Marinette snorted. Maybe a month ago that would have upset her, but the burden of the Miracle Box had put things in perspective. "Lila…Adrien hates your guts. You've lied to him over and over again, and gotten people he cares about hurt. There is no universe where Adrien would ever date you."

Lila's face contorted into barely suppressed rage.

"He won't date you, either," Lila sneered.

"I'm not interested in dating him, or anyone else," Marinette said frankly.

"Now who's the liar?" Lila demanded.

"Still you," Marinette said, turning and walking towards the door. "Believe me Lila. I'm completely over Adrien Agreste."

"What?" Adrien said, blinking at Marinette as he stood in the doorway, looking gobsmacked. "You're…Over me? When were you…Not over me? Why are you over me? You're over me? What?"

"Might have had a small, gigantic crush," Marinette said, blushing and holding up her pointer and thumb and squeezing them together. "But I'm over it now. You're a very sweet boy, Adrien. But I'm done pining for you."

She gently reached up and kissed him on the cheek, before exiting the locker room, Adrien standing there in stunned silence.

_Oh my God,_ Marinette thought to herself as she kept walking. _I cannot believe I pulled that off._

"How…how can she be over me?" Adrien demanded of the locker room. "What the hell have I done? I could have been…dating Marinette? What the hell just happened?"

_He's really upset,_ Lila thought. _I can work with this._

"Want to really make Marinette jealous, Adrien?" Lila purred. "If you started dating me, she'd immediately regret dumping you like that."

Adrien snorted and began laughing.

"Thanks Lila," Adrien said. "I needed a little humor."

Lila scowled. "I was being serious, Adrien. She'd sing a different tune if—"

"Lila," Adrien said. "I wouldn't date you if you were the last woman on earth. You're a liar and you hurt people I care about. It will NEVER happen. Let it go."

Adrien turned around and walked out of the locker room, his books completely forgotten as he walked away from the fuming Lila Rossi.

The Akuma which had been hovering over Adrien's head when he'd heard Marinette declare that she was over him, had paused when Lila had suggested that Adrien date her and Adrien had started laughing. The black butterfly now started drifting towards Lila.

Lila huffed and pulled her Fox-Tail Necklace out of her purse and scooped the Akuma into it.

_Volpina,_ the familiar voice purred in her head.

"Hawkmoth," Lila said smirking.

_Actually, you can call me Aglais right now. I'm granting you the power of Illusion to take revenge on those classmates of yours who have humiliated you._

The purple ooze spread from the pendant and surrounded Lila, until a moment later Volpina stood in her place. She smiled in delight and put the pendant on.

_In addition_, Aglais said. _I'm granting you a shapeshifting Sentimonster who can weave in and out of your illusions, and give them substance._

A single black peacock feather flittered into Volpina's flute. A tiny fox made of flame appeared at Volpina's feet.

"And in return you want Ladybug and Chat Noir's Miraculouses." Volpina said smiling. "All too happy to help, Hawkm—I mean Aglais."

_You can draw Ladybug and Chat Noir out,_ Aglais cooed. _By attacking Alya Césaire._

"Why her?" Volpina asked in surprise.

_Because Alya Césaire is Rena Rouge,_ Aglais said.

"Interesting," Volpina smiled.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Kagami was gently practicing her form and stance with a wooden kendo in the park across from the Dupain-Cheng Bakery. She could smell the croissants from the park.

_Focus,_ Kagami thought. _Form practice, and then breakfast._

"Your song seems different today," A voice said.

"It is not wise to sneak up on someone with a weapon," Kagami commented quietly, turning around and stopping the kendo inches from Luka's face.

"You are Luka," Kagami said. "Marinette's…friend?"

"Yep," he said, sounding somewhat glum. "Not that I haven't tried to be more…but…she's made it pretty clear that she doesn't want that. Her song's changed recently too. It's stronger. Bolder. It's a good thing. But I don't know if I'm the one she can sing duet with. Much as I might like to. The new melody…I'm not sure I can keep up with it."

"I'm not sure I follow the musical metaphors," Kagami admitted.

"Marinette's destined for greatness," Luka said. "I sensed it as soon as I saw her. I was hoping to bask in a little of that greatness for a short time. But I think she's already moved beyond me."

"And so your love is doomed to be unrequited," Kagami said. "I believe that I can relate to that."

"I suppose so," Luka said, he paused, as if considering something. Kagami followed his gaze and noticed André Glacier entering the park.

"I…maybe I'm presuming too much," Luka said. "But…would you like to commiserate on unrequited loves over Ice Cream?"

Kagami considered, but before she had made up her mind, her phone chimed.

**Alya Césaire: CODE BUTTERFLY! AT THE SCHOOL. AFTER ME!**

"A rain check, perhaps, Viperion," Kagami said. "It has begun."

Luka nodded.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Adrien had just barely walked into Mlle Bustier's Classroom when he realized that he'd forgotten to grab his books out of his locker.

He turned to go back to the locker room and gasped when he saw Volpina exit the locker room and leap down to the first floor of the school. Landing nimbly in front of Alya.

Adrien glanced down the hallway on both sides and ducked into a nearby storage closet.

"Plagg! Claws out!" he called out. A wave of magical energy surged over him and he transformed, bursting out of the closet and leaping onto the railing overlooking the school courtyard. He pulled out his baton.

"Milady," He said, leaving a message. "We've got a live Akuma. It's after Alya. Time to put our plan into action!"


	5. Outfoxed

_"Chloe Bourgeois is not welcome in the United States," Declares President Camilla Hombee. A sentiment that seems to be shared by many Americans. Man-on-the-Street interviews with citizens of New York City found that the overwhelming majority of New Yorkers are quite fond of Paris's superhero, due to her actions earlier this year, saving the city from a monster called The Trash Kraken. President Hombee herself spoke very highly of Ladybug and was visibly upset to learn that Ladybug's team had been so badly compromised. In the United States, willfully revealing the identity of a superhero to a super villain is a minimum six-year jail sentence._

Marinette dashed across the street from the school, slipping into the back entrance of the bakery and quietly making her way up to her room, sneaking right past her parents, whose eyes were glued to the TV.

Volpina had conjured the illusion of an army of ninjas that were now surrounding the school. News crews were arriving on the scene, and school had already been canceled for the day (standard policy at this point when an Akuma Attack happened on the grounds)

Marinette removed the key from around her neck and opened the hatbox. It didn't open from the top, as one would expect, but rather from the sides, revealing the old phonograph safe that Master Fu kept the box in. Marinette punched in the code she'd seen him use over a dozen times, and the phonograph opened, revealing the familiar hexagonal shape of the Miracle Box. (Marinette had reset the box after retrieving all of the Miraculouses.)

"Tikki," Marinette declared. "Spots on!"

Her Kwami was sucked into the earrings and in a wave of pink magic, Ladybug stood in Marinette's place. She began opening the Miracle box and removed the Fox Miraculous. She flipped out her yoyo.

"I got your message that Volpina was after Alya, Chat Noir," Ladybug said when Chat's face appeared on her yoyo screen. "Can I assume that Nino is with her?"

"Um…yeah…" Chat said, sounding a little distracted.

"Someone else is there too?" Ladybug asked, recognizing the tone in her partner's voice.

"Yes," Chat said tersely. "All of them."

"What?" Ladybug yelped, slightly surprised.

"Kim, Max, Kagami, Luka, and even Alix are all there trying to protect Alya. And Kagami just broke her wooden sword trying to hit Volpina. I think our Backup Heroes have been comparing notes."

"Well there's a reason we picked them," Ladybug said. "We'll have to go for broke."

Ladybug reached over and snatched up the Turtle Miraculous, the Dragon Miraculous, the Horse Miraculous, and the Monkey Miraculous and deposited them in her yoyo. She hesitated, and then on a whim she grabbed the Mouse Miraculous as well. Her hand hovered over the Snake Miraculous, but then she shook her head. She closed the Miracle Box and lowered it back into the antique phonograph, before closing the hatbox and locking it back up. She then made her way to the roof.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Your ninja army doesn't scare me Volpina," Alya said. "They're just illusions!"

As if to prove her point Alya smacked the nearest ninja, and then let out a yelp when it hit something solid.

"You don't know what you think you know," Volpina chuckled. The ninja grabbed Alya.

"Hawkmoth told me to grab you, because Ladybug and Chat Noir will immediately come after you." Volpina chuckled. "Guess the bug has a soft spot for her biggest fan."

There was a WHACK sound as Kagami brought her kendo down on Volpina's back, but the wooden sword simply splintered apart, and Volpina flinched.

"That wasn't smart," Volpina said, turning around staring down Kagami.

"Let her go!" Kagami spat at the Akuma.

"I wonder what you'll look like after my ninjas skewer you," Volpina sneered.

"You are a foul person no matter what form you take," Kagami spat back. "Do your worst."

"Yes, definitely," Volpina gestured towards the ninja holding Alya, who threw the reporter to the ground and approached Kagami, drawing a sword.

"NOW!" Kim yelled, as he, Nino, Alix, and Luka tackled the ninja and shoved it into Volpina, knocking them both down. Kagami lost no time. She rushed to Alya's side and grabbed her arm. The two of them bolted.

"Scatter!" Max yelled, as the temporary Miraculous Holders took off in different directions.

"After them!" Volpina yelped, scrambling to her feet.

"Don't you have bigger cats to skin?" Chat Noir asked leaping down in front of Volpina.

"Arrgh!" Volpina yelled. "Never mind them! Get that mangy cat!"

"Mangy!" Chat Noir said indignantly. "I'll have you know that I am a show-quality Tom Cat. See this bell? Does this scream stray to you?"

"It screams fashion disaster to me!" Volpina yelled, lunging at Chat Noir, who nimbly sidestepped her.

"Says the woman wearing orange after Bastille Day," Chat Noir grinned before pole vaulting up and over the school. Volpina looked around and saw to her frustration that all of her targets seemed to have vanished.

"AAAARGH!" She yelped in frustration.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Kagami, Alya, and Luka came to rest in the same park that Kagami and Luka had originally come from.

"I think we lost her," Luka declared.

"Thanks to Chat Noir's perfectly timed distraction," Kagami said.

"That is his talent," Ladybug said, leaping down next to the trio. "And why he's irreplaceable."

"Ladybug!" All three of them exclaimed in surprise.

"Alya Césaire, Kagami Tsurugi," Ladybug said reaching into her yoyo and producing two Miracle Boxes. "These are the Miraculous of the Fox and Dragon. You will use them for the greater good. Can I count on you?"

Alya and Kagami looked shocked, but exchanged a glance and then stood at attention.

"You can count on us Ladybug," Alya said as she took the box.

"Luka, I'm sorry," Ladybug said turning towards the musician. "It's too dangerous to bring the Snake into play right now."

"I understand, Ladybug," Luka said, glancing in the direction of the Grand Paris Hotel. "I'm not some petty brat on a power trip. I know why you have to be careful with that kind of power."

"Which is why you are more worthy than she ever was," Kagami said softly. "Fear not, Ladybug. I will watch him."

Ladybug nodded.

"Trixx! Let's Pounce!"

"Longg, Bring the Storm!"

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Oh crap evil ninjas!" Kim yelled as a dozen of the black clad ninjas chased after them.

"Should they not be illusions?" Max asked. "That is Volpina's power, correct?"

"One of them grabbed Alya," Nino said.

"Nino's right," Alix said. "We can't trust that…"

There was a flash of golden light as Chat Noir sailed through all of the Ninjas and smacked them with his baton. They vanished instantly.

"That was closer than I would have liked," Chat said shaking his head. "S'up guys? Where's the party?"

"Back wherever Volpina is, I assume," Alix said. "That's where all the real action is going to be."

"You're not wrong," Chat Noir said grinning and reaching into his pocket. "Which is why I brought party favors. Lê Chiến Kim, Max Kanté, Nino Lahiffe. I present to you the Miraculouses of the Monkey, Horse, and Turtle. Courtesy of our One and Only Guardian of the Miracle Box; Ladybug."

Kim, Max, and Nino looked at each other in surprise.

"I thought the danger was too great?" Max said.

"Wouldn't expect you of all people to look a gift horse in the mouth," Chat said, cocking an eyebrow.

Max frowned, clearly uncertain how to take that pun.

The three boys took their respective Miraculouses.

"Wayzz! Shell On!"

"Xuppu! Showtime!"

"Kaalki! Full Gallop!"

In a flash Carapace, King Monkey, and Pegasus stood where Nino, Kim, and Max did.

Alix let out a low whistle. "You look good, Ma—Erm. Pegasus."

Pegasus blushed.

"Sorry I didn't bring the Rabbit Miraculous," Chat said shrugging.

"It's cool. I remember what future me said. 'Hero of the last resort' right?" Alix commented.

"Counting on you guys to watch each other's back," Chat said. "Now let's go take down a dirty fox."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"There you are!" Volpina snarled, lunging at Alya. The mirage of Alya vanished the moment that Volpina made contact. Volpina blinked.

"Can't win in a game of illusions, Vee," Rena Rouge declared, appearing atop the Ladybug and Chat Noir Stature in the park. "The real Miraculous is always going to trump the Akuma fake."

"Try this illusion on for size!" Volpina yelled, playing a tune on her flute. The air shimmered, and a massive kaiju appeared behind her. The creature roared and swiped at Rena, who deftly leapt out of the way. The kaiju's hand smashed the stature down flat.

"I do have to wonder how you're doing that though," Rena said, leaping over to the carousel.

"Maybe you're not the master illusionist that you think you are!" Volpina said as the kaiju slammed its arm down on the carousel. The illusion of Rena Rouge vanished.

"I don't know," Rena said from behind Volpina. "I like to think I'm pretty good."

Volpina spun around to find herself surrounded by seven Rena Rouges.  
"I know that only one of these is real," Volpina said, lunging forward to smack the nearest Rena with her flute. It struck something solid and the illusion of Rena disappeared to reveal….King Monkey.

Volpina had just enough time to look panicked before King Monkey placed a plush platypus up against Volpina's flute, which immediately transformed into an oversized kazoo.

The kaiju behind Volpina squeaked in shock and turned into a gigantic rubber duck. The ninjas all suddenly poofed and became sock monkeys.

"Oh come on!" Volpina yelped as the real Rena Rouge took the kazoo and snapped it in half. The amok fluttered out.

"An amok," one of the Rena illusions declared. "No wonder…One of the illusions was actually a Sentimonster."

"CATACLYSM!" another Rena Illusion declared, and touched the necklace around Volpina's neck. It crumbled apart into dust, releasing the butterfly.

The illusions dissipated revealing Ryuuko, Chat Noir, Ladybug, Pegasus, and Carapace.

"No more evil doing for you little butterfly, feather!" Ladybug declared, snatching both up in her yoyo. "It's time to de-evilize!"

She released the purified butterfly and feather. "Bye-bye little butterfly, feather!"

"MIRACULOUS LADYBUG!" she declared, throwing her yoyo into the air. A wave of Ladybugs launched out and repaired the statue and carousel.

The Akumatization vanished from Lila and she looked around at the heroes.

"Oh how embarrassing!" she yelled, and ran off in the direction of the school.

"Now we have to give these back, right?" Carapace said, approaching Ladybug.

"Not this time," Ladybug said. The other heroes looked surprised.

"I can't let you keep the Miraculouses indefinitely," Ladybug said. "Because Hawkmoth knows who you are. As soon as he figures out that you have them…he'll come after them. But right now, that's not his tactic. Right now, he's trying to use you to bait me. Threatening your families and friends. I can't abide that. So I'm trusting you guys with the Miraculous for the time being. Get to know your Kwamis. Tell NO one. SHOW no one. And do not transform unless Chat or I specifically call upon you, or your loved ones are in immediate danger."

"On my honor, Ladybug," Ryuuko said stepping forward. "We will try to be worthy of the trust you have placed in us."

"We'll reassess the situation next Friday," Ladybug said. "If I feel that Hawkmoth has backed off, or changed tactics, then you will return the Miraculouses at that time. If he has not, you'll hold them for another two weeks. We'll meet at the Eiffel Tower at 1 am."

"This is why you didn't wish to give Alix or Luka their Miraculous," Pegasus surmised. "Even with the threat posed to our loved ones, allowing a Miraculous that can manipulate time itself to be active while Hawkmoth is targeting us is too dangerous."

"That's exactly right," Ladybug said. "Which is why I'm counting on you guys to keep a close eye on Alix and especially Luka."

"You got it Ladydude!" Carapace said.

"I am super impressed that you guys all came together when one of your own was in danger though," Ladybug said smiling. "Come on Kitty. Bug out!"

Chat saluted and followed Ladybug to a nearby rooftop.

"Voyage!" Pegasus declared, using his special power. He and King Monkey leapt through the portal and found themselves in Max's room.

"Kaalki, Full Stop."

"Xuppu, Show's over."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Wayzz! Shell off!"

"Trixx, Let's rest!"

Nino and Alya departed the park, completely missing Lila, ducked down and hiding behind the Ladybug Statue. She grinned, eyeing the pendant around Alya's neck.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Longg, Open Skies!" Kagami declared, as soon as she was certain that she was alone. She glanced over to see Luka casually playing his guitar on a nearby park bench, as though nothing had happened.

"I would be open to that ice cream now," Kagami said, approaching the musician. Luka smiled softly at her.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Soooo, Miladybug," Chat said. "Since we've now basically thrown all of the rules of identities out the window, how do we feel about giving Marinette the Mouse Miraculous?"

Ladybug sighed and rolled her eyes. "I had a feeling you would ask."

She reached into her yoyo and pulled out the final Miraculous. She handed it to Chat.

"Same rules as the others, okay?" Ladybug said. "She shows no one, and doesn't use it unless she has to, okay?"

"Sweet!" Chat said, grinning and taking the Miraculous. "I'll give it to her tonight."

Ladybug shook her head in exasperation.

_I still have no idea how I'm going to juggle this one_, she thought.


	6. Of Mice and Foxes

_To my fellow Guardians,_

_I have arrived safely within Paris, and have begun observing Wang Fu's disciples, the current holders of the Black Cat and Ladybug Miraculous. Paris has changed much in the last two hundred years, and I am finding it difficult to blend in. It seems that travel cloaks have fallen out of favor in recent years, and thus I am not as inconspicuous as I would have hoped. Nevertheless I persevere. The nature of the trouble in Paris involves misuse of the Butterfly Miraculous, and as a sub-result it is not in the Ladybug's best interest for anyone to learn her identity. I have actively avoided attempting to do so, for fear that one wrong move in this modern Paris could accidentally result in my being Akumatized. Though Aquilla assures me that he will be keeping me Honest, I am still anxious. As to the holders themselves…I am impressed. The Ladybug is as brave as Jeanne, as gentle as Bọ rùa, and as clever as Micazoyolin. She may be the most talented Ladybug Holder I've ever seen. Wang Fu chose well. The Black Cat is her perfect counterpart as well. Gentle and kind, he wields destruction with a delicate touch. My only concern at the moment is a lack of balance between the two. It is an understandable imbalance, due to the fact that Fu has made the Ladybug Holder his successor and as such she shoulders more responsibilities between the two. As this particular situation is not common, I am at a loss to correct this imbalance at the moment and am welcome to any advice that the elders might bestow. As to the Ladybug and Black Cat themselves…I have observed enough to know that despite Wang Fu's lack of training he definitely possessed the eye for Choosing Holders. I will likely make contact with the two of them soon._

_With Sincerity, Monk Gao, Order of the Guardians, and Aquilla, Kwami of Truth_

Marinette sat upon her balcony in the cool evening light, sketching Notre Dame Cathedral across the river. She sighed deeply and closed her sketchbook, as she had become aware of a shadow overlooking her balcony.

"Evening Princess," Chat Noir said, grinning as leapt down and placed a small Miracle Box on the table next to Marinette's sketchbook. "Brought you a present."

"The Mouse Miraculous?" Marinette asked, feigning surprise. "But I thought that Ladybug said I couldn't use it again."

"I wore her down," Chat said, still grinning. "There are some caveats. Don't show anyone, don't use it unless it's an emergency, yada-yada. You're a responsible girl, I think you get the idea."

"I guess I do," Marinette said, opening the box. There was a flash of light and Mullo appeared in front of her. The Mouse Kwami flew around Marinette's head and winked, before diving into her purse and sitting next to Tikki.

"Let me guess," Marinette said. "You like cheese, right?"

Chat Noir shuddered involuntarily.

"Actually I prefer peanut butter," Mullo said. "Though I won't turn down cheese if it's offered. Assuming Plagg's not around that is. Eating cheese around him is a safety hazard." Tikki suppressed a giggle.

"How about a peanut butter cookie?" Marinette asked, picking one up off of her plate and breaking it in half, handing the two halves to the Kwamis in her purse.

"Glad to see that you're already getting along," Chat said, grinning like the cat who got the cream.

"I don't understand why you fought so hard to get Ladybug to give this back to me, though," Marinette said, curiously.

"It's nothing," Chat said, suddenly defensive. Marinette pursed her lips.

"Okay," Chat admitted. "Not nothing. Ladybug's the Guardian, so she gets to pick all of the temporary holders. I don't really get a say. And I'm mostly okay with that. It's not my job. I may not necessarily like being left out of the loop, but I GET it. Fighting to get the Mouse Miraculous was just…my way of contributing. Because I've always known you were awesome, Princess. You would have been _my_ first choice for a backup hero, and fighting to get you back on the team…it felt like I was getting to choose a backup for once."

Marinette felt her heart melt at Chat's honest confession. "That's…so sweet Chat Noir. I'll try not to let you down."

"So…" Chat said, his grin returning. "I heard a little rumor that you have a crush on a certain model?"

Marinette let out a sigh.

"Or," Chat continued. "I guess I heard that you were over him?"

Marinette sighed again. "Not really. How do you get over your first love?"

Love? Chat thought in surprise.

"Adrien's so sweet and gentle and kind," Marinette said. "But he's never noticed me."

"I doubt that's true," Chat said.

"And honestly, after he got together with Kagami-," Marinette said.

"Which I understand is over," Chat interjected.

"I realized that even though I love him," Marinette said. "I'm not ready for a relationship. Like…at all. Been doing a lot of self-reflecting lately. Getting to know Marinette outside of the context of her crazy crushes. It's been freeing."

"If you want," Chat said. "I could put in a good word for you,"

He cleared his throat. "Adrien and I…um…we may or may not be in the same industry, in my civilian life. And thus, we're in some of the same social circles."

"You're a model?" Marinette asked in surprise.

"I could be a photographer, or designer or make-up artist, or any number of things in the fashion industry," Chat winked. "But it's nice to know that you see my rugged good looks and immediately think 'model'."

"That's fair, I guess," Marinette said. "I won't press you for details because I know it's not safe…but…please don't mention that you know me to him."

"Why not?" Chat asked.

"I'm trying to move on, Chat," Marinette said. "No point in pestering him about me, and 'his good friend Marinette'. Especially since you can't exactly tell him how you know me."

"Point, I suppose," Chat said. "But…I might not necessarily have to mention that I've met you. He brings you up, all the time. Seriously. Talks about you without prompting. All I'd have to do is suggest that maybe he ask you out."

Marinette's eyes widened.

"Confidentially," Chat continued. "I have it on good authority that that habit of his may be why Kagami dumped him."

Marinette blushed without thinking. Kagami has said that the reason for the breakup was personal. And that she'd encouraged Adrien to ask Marinette out soon…She could feel her heart rate quickening. And then her thoughts drifted to the hatbox on her desk.

"Even if I was ready for a relationship," Marinette said, shaking her head. _Which will be never! Guardian Duty comes first._ "Adrien's never noticed me before. I just don't see him starting to notice me now. "

"I think you might be surprised by how much Adrien notices you, Marinette," Chat said. "Anyway, I should probably take off. This kitty does need his beauty sleep after all. And so do you, Princess."

"Sure thing, Chat," Marinette said smiling. "And…thank you…for the Miraculous."

"It was honestly my pleasure," Chat said, leaping off from Marinette's balcony.

Marinette waited until Chat was out of sight before pulling out the Miracle box with the Mouse Miraculous in it.

"Sorry Mullo," Marinette said.

"I understand, Guardian," Mullo said as she and Tikki exited the purse.

"Mullo, I renounce you," Marinette said, as the Mouse Kwami vanished back into the necklace. She closed the box and slipped it into her purse.

"Hopefully there won't be any reason to use this before Ladybug reclaims the Miraculouses," Marinette said.

"Agreed," Tikki said. "There's no way you can be both Multimouse and Ladybug at the same time."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Hey there, are you okay?" Alya asked Lila, who was sitting by herself on a bench in front of the school.

"Honestly Alya," Lila said. "I'm just so embarrassed. I'm Ladybug's best friend and I just keep getting Akumatized."

"What even happened?" Alya asked Lila, frowning.

"I…got upset because," Lila hesitated. "I was trying to bury the hatchet with Marinette. I just don't understand why she doesn't like me. But…The conversation didn't go well, and then…next thing I knew, I was in the park, surrounded by the Heroes of Paris."

"I'm so sorry, Lila," Alya said. "Maybe I can talk to Marinette for you."

"No, It's fine," Lila said. "I think that Marinette and I are just like…oil and water. We're never really going to get along. The sooner I accept that, the less likely I will be Akumatized in the future."

"It's still not right, girl," Alya said.

"It is what it is," Lila sighed.

Lila looked around, surreptitiously. "So…Can I see it?"

"See what?" Alya asked, frowning.

"I know I'm not supposed to know," Lila said. "But Ladybug was so excited she let it slip. And I've never been allowed to use a Miraculous myself. For safety reasons, since everyone knows I'm Ladybug's best friend. Hawkmoth would come after me if she ever gave me a Miraculous…but…well…She kind of let slip…I mean…Nothing. I don't know anything. Forget I asked."

Alya looked around. "Okay, I'll show you. Because you're Ladybug's bestie. But not here."

"Too public," Lila said. "I get it."

The two girls hurried into the school and ducked into the locker room. Alya reached into her purse and pulled out her Miracle box. She opened it and a ball of orange light erupted from the box as Trixx came out.

The Fox Kwami took one look at Lila and frowned.

"Oh Alya," Trixx said. "What have you done?"


	7. Trojan Mouse

**Chloé:** _Um…Adrikins. I was wondering…if…maybe you might come over to the Hotel to see me? Sabrina refuses to talk to me, and…I'm really lonely right now._

**TEXT MESSAGE FAILED TO SEND:** _The number you are attempting to reach has either been disconnected or has blocked yours._

"Hey Marinette?" Adrien said, quietly walking up to Marinette, rubbing the back of his neck like he did when he was nervous.

Marinette paused as she was about to enter Miss Bustier's classroom. She adjusted her books, and took the croissant out of her mouth that she'd been holding there. She casually took a bite of it as Adrien approached her.

"What's up, Adrien?" she asked.

"I was just wondering," Adrien said quietly. "If…maybe…you'd be interested in seeing a movie with me this weekend?"

"Like, with Alya and Nino?" Marinette asked curiously.

"Actually…I was thinking…Maybe like…just you and me," Adrien said. "Like…maybe a date?"

Marinette's heart stopped beating for a second. There was a flash of pure joy that leapt through her as she realized that Chat Noir had been right. That Adrien HAD noticed her. This lasted but a moment as reality came crashing down on her. _The Miracle Box. She was the Guardian._

Marinette furrowed her brows. "Absolutely not, Adrien."

"What?" Adrien looked slightly taken aback, as though he'd expected her to say yes.

"Adrien you just broke up with Kagami a few days ago," Marinette said, sounding disappointed in him, and borderline upset. "I will not be your rebound girl. I deserve better than that."

She gave him a pointed glare and turned and walking into the classroom, taking another bite out of her croissant.

Adrien on the other hand was standing there looking confused and a little sheepish. He didn't even hear Kagami walk up behind him. She smacked him on the back of the head. Not hard, but enough that he knew it wasn't playful.

"I told you to wait two weeks, Adrien," Kagami said, glaring at him. She glared and walked away from him.  
"I really messed this one up, didn't I Plagg?" Adrien said. The Kwami just snorted from within Adrien's shirt pocket.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Marinette was having a mental breakdown. _Adrien had asked her out. And she had turned him down_. She never in a million years thought that she would be in this situation, but here she was. She, Marinette Dupain-Cheng had refused Adrien Agreste.

She had blamed it on not wanting to be a rebound girl, which seemed valid on a surface level, and she knew no one would question it, but the truth was, if she wasn't the Guardian, she would have leapt upon it. Now her brain was going into overdrive, picking apart every aspect to the interaction. Marinette was so distracted that she didn't notice Alya slip into the seat next to hers.

"Hey…Marinette?" Alya asked quietly. "Um…You know how you've been saying for a while now that you don't trust Lila, and that you think she's a liar? Um…why do you think that exactly?"

Marinette's anxiety bubble immediately popped at that question, and she turned and looked at Alya with a deadpan look on her face.

Marinette pulled out her phone without a word, and began scrolling down her contact list for Alya to see, not once changing her expression or even looking at the phone. She stopped at one of the contacts.

**JAGGED STONE**

Marinette tapped 'call'.

"Marinette! My favorite designer!" Jagged exclaimed happily over the phone.

"Sorry to call you so early Jagged." Marinette said speaking for the first time.

"Oh it's no problem Marinette love. I was up all night anyway, working on a collaboration with Clara Nightingale for the concert. Clara! Penny! It's Marinette! Say hi!

"Hello Marinette it's always a delight! Especially after writing all night! I enjoy hearing from you, it's so much fun, I was also wondering when my album cover will be done?" Clara cooed through the phone.

"Oh probably by Sunday," Marinette said. "I'm about halfway through it. Hey Jagged? Quick question. Have you ever owned a cat?"

"No, not once ever. If I did, Fang would probably eat it, like he did my ex-girlfriend's toy poodle." Jagged said. "Why do you ask?"

"No reason," Marinette said. "Thanks for talking to me. See you guys in two weeks."

"Rock and Roll!" Jagged crowed and the line went dead.

"Satisfied?" Marinette asked.

Alya nodded grimly. "Marinette…I think…I think I've done something bad. Like…I showed Lila something that I shouldn't have, and I think that she may have stole it from my bag."

Marinette's blood went cold.

"Alya," Marinette said. "Please tell me you did not show Lila your Miraculous."

"I thought that it would be okay because she's Ladyb-," Alya started to say, and then stopped. "Wait…how did you know?"

"I didn't until you just confirmed it for me," Marinette said shaking her head.  
"But I figured if Ladybug was going to trust anyone with a Miraculous, it'd be you, the girl who writes her blog. I have a Miraculous too. I'm Multimouse. I helped Ladybug and Chat Noir fight Mlle. Mendeleive when she was turned into Kwamibuster. I accidentally outed myself to Chat Noir at the end of the fight, and I haven't been called on since then. After the fight with Volpina yesterday, Chat Noir told me that he'd convinced Ladybug to give me another chance with the Miraculous, as long as I didn't tell anybody. I figured that the other heroes had the same deal. And when you said you showed Lila something that you shouldn't have…my first thought was my Miraculous."

Alya nodded grimly, looking very pale. "I think she stole it from my bag, and replaced it with this one."

Alya pulled a fox pendant out of her bag and handed it to Marinette. "It's not the right weight, and it doesn't look like this in camouflage mode. And Trixx was pretty angry with me for showing her, and I can't find Trixx, and he's not supposed to go very far away from me."

Marinette rubbed her temples. Lila had the Fox Miraculous. Lila could be Volpina for real. She could cast illusions whenever she wanted. This was really bad.

"Come on," Marinette said standing up and grabbing her bag.

"Miss Bustier," Marinette said as the teacher entered the classroom. "I'm not feeling well. I have a splitting headache. Alya's going to take me to the Nurse's office."

"Today is mostly just a review," Miss Bustier said. "I hope you feel better Marinette."

The two girls exited the classroom and began walking down the hallway. Marinette then grabbed Alya's arm and yanked her into an empty classroom.

"You're going to tell Miss Bustier that the Nurse sent me home," Marinette said, setting her purse on a desk. "Make sure you get notes for me."

Marinette reached into her purse and pulled out the Mouse Miraculous and opened the box. In a flash of light Mullo reappeared and flew around Marinette's head.

"I thought that you weren't going to need me?" Mullo said.

"I was hoping that I wouldn't," Marinette said sighing, as she put the necklace on. "But we can't let Lila keep the Fox Miraculous. I can't even imagine the kind of damage she could do with it."

"I am soooo sorry Marinette," Alya said. "I swear I thought I could trust her."

"If Ladybug and Chat Noir don't even share their identities with each other," Marinette said. "Then why would we share ours with anyone? I only outed myself to you because you need my help. I wasn't going to say anything otherwise."

"Ladybug's going to be so disappointed in me," Alya whimpered.

"She's probably going to take away both of our Miraculouses for this," Marinette confirmed. "But we've still got to get the fox back. We can't let her keep it for even a second longer than she should. I'm just so sad that I have to let Chat Noir down after he fought so hard to give this back to me. This is going to break his heart."

"Got a soft spot for the Black Cat?" Alya said with a half-hearted smile.

"Absolutely I do," Marinette said. "All right…MULLO! LET'S GET SQUEAKY!"

Mullo vanished into the necklace around Marinette's neck and she transformed into Multimouse.

"It's a good look for you, girl," Alya said, smiling. "I like the buns. I never see your hair in anything but pigtails."

"MULTITUDE!" Multimouse yelled, and began shrinking as copies of herself began appearing out of her legs. Within seconds, Marinette had split herself into 16, six-inch Multimice.

"No wonder no one saw you fight Kwamibuster, girl!" Alya grinned.

"We're going to split up," Multimouse said. "You're going to take three of me back to the classroom, to slip into Lila's bag. The others are going to check her locker,"

Alya nodded. "What about your timer, girl? You've used your power…doesn't that start your timer ticking, counting down until you transform back?"

"Countdown doesn't start until we reunite." Marinette said.

Alya nodded and bent down, scooping up three of the Multimice.

The remaining thirteen waited for Alya to leave.

"Tikki!" the Multimouse who was wearing the earrings called out. Instantly the bright red Kwami phased out of Marinette's bag.

"Can you get us to Lila's locker?" she asked.

"I might have to take a few trips," Tikki said, giggling.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Adrien entered the classroom and slumped down in his desk, banging his forehead on it.

He glanced up upon hearing Alya reenter the room. "The Nurse sent Marinette home to rest." Alya said. "Marinette's headache is pretty bad."

Miss Bustier nodded as Alya began making her way to her seat, Adrien grabbed Alya's arm. "Does Marinette really have a headache?"

Alya blinked. "Um…yeah. Like a full on migraine I think?"

"Oh…I thought maybe she was avoiding me," Adrien said.

"Why would she be avoiding you?" Alya asked, frowning.

"I…I asked her to see a movie with me Friday. Like, a date-date," Adrien said quietly.

"What seriously?!" Alya gasped.

"She turned me down," Adrien said. "Accused me of going after her for a rebound girlfriend."

"Girl!" Alya whispered to the Multimouse in her breast pocket.

"Not now, _Miraculous!"_ Multimouse whispered back.

"Well you did just break up with Kagami," Alya said.

"Yeah," Adrien said. "Kagami dumped me…because I have feelings for Marinette. Really strong feelings that I hadn't even noticed before but I can't…But now that I see them, I can't get Marinette out of my head. I know I should have waited…but…I don't know. I heard her say yesterday that she was over me, and I went into panic mode. I didn't want to waste a second, you know?"

"Girl, are you hearing this?" Alya whispered.

"_Not important, Alya, MIRACULOUS!_" Multimouse whispered back. "Get me to Lila's bag!"

"I'll talk to Marinette," Alya said. "Maybe convince her to give you another shot."

Alya darted up the steps to the back of the classroom to where Lila was sitting.

"Hey, since Marinette's out today, do you want to sit up front with me?" Alya asked sweetly.

"Of course I would!" Lila said delightedly. Alya helped Lila gather up her books as a Multimouse slipped into Lila's bookbag and another one slipped into Lila's purse.

"The other Multimice didn't find anything in her locker," the remaining Multimouse, still in Alya's breast pocket declared. "And the one in her purse didn't find anything either."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

The last Multimouse was scaling Lila's books within the bag.

"Trixx!" She called out. "Are you in here?"

"Ladybug?" Trixx whispered. "Oh thank heavens. You have to get me away from this woman. She has such horrid plans for me!"

"Where's the Miraculous?" Multimouse asked.

"Unfortunately, she's wearing it." Trixx said.

"Damn it." Multimouse swore.

"You have a plan, though, right?" Trixx asked. "You're Ladybug, you always have a plan."

"Yeah," Multimouse said. "I have a plan. But…It's kind of insane."

"Don't worry, Ladybug!" Trixx said. "Those are the best kinds of plans!"


	8. Outmousing the Fox

**Nadia:**_ So there are allegations that Chloé Bourgeois willfully worked with Hawkmoth—_  
**An****dré**** Bourgeios:**_ Absolute nonsense. It's a well documented fact that my daughter is one of Paris's HEROES. Furthermore, no one is responsible for actions taken while Akumatized._  
**Nadia:**_ Her accusers are her fellow heroes of Paris._  
**André:**_ Allegedly. Submitted anonymously to a blog of dubious credibility. Trying to slander my daughter's name in order to make themselves look good. No one has made any public accusations._  
_**Chat**_** Noir:**_ That's fair. Allow me to be the first. My colleagues choose to remain hidden behind their anonymity in order to protect themselves and their loved ones. A public accusation means that Chloé could reveal their identities publicly as well. I however have the luxury of anonymity on my side. Chloé doesn't know who I am. So I'm outing her now. The recent exposés on the Ladyblog are true. Chloé willfully and Maliciously worked against Ladybug and myself, and exposed our reserve heroes to Hawkmoth._  
**Nadia:**_ Ladies and Gentlemen, Chat Noir has just made a surprise visit to our studios. Mayor Bourgeois, do you have any response to Chat Noir's statement?_

Kagami quietly turned around, blocking an invisible attack from a nonexistent opponent with her kendo. She was standing in the park, practicing once again. Always disciplined. Always on Guard.

"You have excellent form, Kagami-san," Longg said. "Better even then some of the samurai I have worked with in the past. You could gain a little more reach if you widened your stance by two inches."

"Thank you for the advice, Longg-San," Kagami said. "I benefit from your wisdom and experience."

"I thought that you were a fencer," Luka said as he approached Kagami, Longg ducked into Kagami's jacket pocket, and Luka pretended not to see him. "Isn't Japanese Kendo a completely different style?"

"I am a student of all sword forms," Kagami said. "The blade that Longg provides me, for example, is a Chinese straight-sword. Very different from my French Fencing Foil. But different techniques from different sources can only improve your abilities. I've observed Chat Noir in combat, for example. It is clear he has had some formal fencing training, that he channels into use with his Staff. He has a solid stance, though no formal fencing instructor would teach him, with his lack of discipline and movements. He frequently leaves himself vulnerable to attack."

"May be intentional," Luka said. "To make himself look like an easier target than Ladybug."

"Or he's counting on his cat-like agility as compensation," Kagami agreed.

"Knowing him, it is likely both," Longg commented.

"You know who he is, Longg-San?" Kagami asked in surprise.

"I know who both heroes really are," Longg replied. "But am forbidden from revealing it."

"I would not wish to know, anyway," Kagami said. "It would leave them vulnerable."

"Do you mind if I play, while you practice?" Luka asked Kagami, unslinging his guitar from his shoulder.

Kagami frowned.

"Sometimes music can help improve concentration and performance," Longg commented.

"Yes," Kagami said smiling. "You may play, Luka."

Luka began to play a few soft chords on the guitar.

"Adrien asked Marinette to the movies earlier today," Kagami said quietly.

"That's a little soon after your breakup, isn't it?" Luka asked.

"Marinette said the same thing when she turned him down."

"Good for her," Luka said. "Still, I hope that doesn't discourage him from trying again."

"You are all right with him asking her?" Kagami asked, knowing that she wasn't exactly comfortable herself.

"I want Marinette to be happy. Even if it's not with me. Don't you want that for Adrien?" Luka asked.

Kagami hesitated.

"Do not hesitate, Kagami-san," Longg said. "It leaves you vulnerable."

"I wanted him to be happy with me," she admitted.

"I wanted Marinette to be happy with me too," Luka said. "But I think that we both know that they wouldn't be. I look at those two idiots, and…they just seem, right together. Even if they stumble over themselves and get in their own way, it just furthers my belief. If ever two people were made for each other…it's them. I like Marinette a lot. I wouldn't say I love her…but in a way…I might be bad for her. We're very similar to each other. Adrien on the other hand…is more of a…I don't know…Counterweight, I guess? Grounds her when she gets up into her own head. As an artist, I'm not exactly the best at grounding someone."

"Yin and Yang," Longg said quietly. "All things existing in balance. Male and Female. Destruction and Creation."

"Marinette and I are both Yin," Luka said. "We might not properly balance each other."

"Now that I think about it," Kagami sighed. "I believe that Adrien and I are both Yang."

"But that also means that together, you are balanced," Longg pointed out.

Kagami and Luka looked at each other in surprise. Kagami then found herself blushing and looking away.

_What if…What if I were to change Targets_, Kagami thought about the advice she had once given Adrien. To change targets. She had meant for him to focus on her. But it hadn't occurred to her at the time that the advice could be applied to herself as well.

Luka suddenly stepped forward, bent down, and kissed Kagami. It was short but sweet, and very different from kissing Adrien.

"I hope that was okay," Luka said quietly after he broke the kiss.

"It was," Kagami said in surprise. Luka hadn't hesitated.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Multimouse was clutching her head in Alya's breast pocket.

"Are you okay girl?" Alya whispered. Multimouse shook her head. "Not supposed to be split apart this long. It's starting to give me a headache."

"Maybe we should abort," Alya whispered back.

"No," Multimouse whispered back. "The Fox Miraculous is too important. I'll try and unite some of the other mes in the locker room. That should take some of the stress off."

The truth was that the Multimice that were in the Locker Room had already merged, there were now two roughly cat-sized Multimice climbing out the locker room window.

"What do we do?" Alya asked.

"We need to wait until Lila is alone," Multimouse whispered. "We're going to need a distraction."

Suddenly Alya's phone let out a chirp.

"Please tell me that's not an Akuma alert?" Multimouse whispered.

Alya nodded grimly.

"Mlle Bustier," Lila asked, raising her hand. "I need to use the restroom."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"What's happening?" Multimouse asked Trixx.

"An Akuma Alert went off," Trixx said. "This is bad."

"No kidding!" Multimouse whispered. "I can't be Ladybug if I'm Multimouse!"

"It's worse than that!" Trixx whispered. "This was one of her plans. She was waiting for an Akuma alert. She wants to use the Power of Illusion to throw off your fight!"

Multimouse blinked, her mind suddenly racing as her plans adjusted.

"Actually I think I can work with that," Multimouse replied. "Don't worry Trixx, you'll be out of her hands soon. But I gotta get out of here now!"

Trixx nodded, scooping Multimouse up and flying her up to the edge of Lila's bag. Multimouse tossed out her jump rope and snagged a nearby ceiling rafter, swinging up to it and joining the other version of herself from Lila's purse. The two Multimice merged, becoming slightly larger. She glanced down as Alya ducked out of the classroom. The Akuma, unsurprisingly—as Hawkmoth was still targeting the Auxilary heroes-was on school grounds. Marinette could see King Monkey leaping around in the courtyard, attempting to avoid being hit with some beams, so likely Kim had been the target. She hadn't paid much attention at the time, likely due to the Lila issue, but Kim had been late for class.

The Multimouse in Alya's breast pocket threw her jump rope up and swung up to join her counterpart in the rafters. The two merged and glanced down, getting a look at the Akumatized villain.

"Replay!" Multimouse squeaked. "Kim must have annoyed Adam somehow…Great. The last thing I need is Lila casting an illusion around a Time-Manipulation Akuma."

Multimouse darted into a nearby vent and quickly began running through the vents towards where her other selves were waiting on the roof. Fortunately, she had an innate sense of special awareness with regards to her split selves. She climbed out of the roof vent and quickly remerged, becoming a single Multimouse again.

Instantly the necklace started beeping and a mouse disappeared on it.

"Mullo, Silent as a Mouse," Marinette said, and the transformation vanished.

"What about Trixx?" Mullo said, looking exhausted.

"My purse is still in that classroom," Marinette said, frowning. "There's some emergency macarons in there for Tikki. Go eat one and stand by, I may need your help." Mullo squeaked and phased into the roof.

"Tikki, are you nearby?"

"Right here Marinette," Tikki said shooting up next to her. "Are you okay? You were divided a pretty long time."

"We have to trust that King Monkey and Chat Noir can handle the Akuma on their own. We have to find Lila. Trixx said that she plans to interfere in the next Akuma fight."

"Oh that no good rotten witch," Tikki spat.

"Tikki! Spots on!" Marinette yelled, a wave of familiar magic washing over her as she transformed into Ladybug.

"Lucky Charm!" She yelled, throwing the yoyo into the air. In a flash of red light a red polka dotted flashlight flew out.

"A flashlight?" Ladybug wondered. It was one of those high grade emergency Flashlight for campers to use if they got lost in the woods.

She darted towards the center of the school roof, looking down into the school courtyard, where Chat Noir and Pegasus had joined King Monkey in fighting Replay. Ladybug couldn't see Lila or Volpina anywhere. Which didn't mean anything. She was probably hiding under an illusion.

Then Ladybug spotted her.

_Did she really make it that easy?_ Ladybug thought.

'Marinette' was watching the fight. It made sense, actually, after Ladybug thought about it for a minute. By posing as Marinette, Lila could pull another frame job, this time with witnesses. Say nothing else for Lila, she was consistent.

She hadn't cast another illusion yet, though. She was waiting for Ladybug to arrive on the scene.

Ladybug swung down, and landed right behind 'Marinette'.

"Marinette," Ladybug said out loud. 'Marinette' spun around.

"L-Ladybug?" she stammered.

"I got your message," Ladybug said.

"My message?" 'Marinette' said. "Of course. My message. To…Um…"

Ladybug whipped out the flashlight and flicked it on in Lila's face, causing the illusion to break and reveal Volpina. The bright light also distracted Replay down in the courtyard long enough for King Monkey to hit him in the face with a Rubber Chicken.

Replay's watch suddenly transformed into a giant over-sized penguin strapped to his wrist.

"Cataclysm!" Chat Noir yelled, grabbing the penguin.

Ladybug grabbed the Fox-Tail Pendant from Volpina's neck. There was a flash of light and Volpina transformed back into Lila. Trixx vanished into the Miraculous.

"The message that Lila stole Alya's Miraculous, of course," Ladybug said, placing the pendant in her yoyo, as Lila glared at Ladybug.

"You won't be lucky forever, Ladybug," Lila whispered through gritted teeth.

Ladybug launched her yoyo, seemingly at Lila's face. She let out a yelp, but the yoyo whizzed past her head and snatched the butterfly out of the air before retreating back to Ladybug's hand.

"No more evil doing for you, little Akuma," Ladybug said. "It's time to de-evilize."

The white butterfly flittered out of Ladybug's yoyo.

"Miraculous Ladybug!" she yelled, throwing the flashlight into the air. A wave of Ladybugs swirled out, and watched over the school. Unfreezing everyone who Replay had 'Paused' and setting right everyone he'd rewound. Ladybug swung the Yoyo up and over the roof, swinging up to the top.

"Ladybug!" Chat Noir said, leaping down next to her. "Barely saw you this fight…wait…why are you wearing Marinette's Miraculous?"

Ladybug blinked, realizing belatedly that she was still wearing the Multimouse Miraculous.

"It's a long story Kitty," she said shaking her head. "I'll explain later when my countdown timer isn't going off."

The door to the roof suddenly burst open and Alya came rushing out.

"Ladybug!" she exclaimed. "I am soooo sooo sorry! This was all my fault! Please don't blame Marinette. She was only trying to help me fix my mistake!"

"What mistake?" Chat Noir asked, looking back and forth between Ladybug and Alya.

"I'm sorry, Alya," Ladybug said, taking the Mouse Miraculous off and gently slipping it into her yoyo. "I have no choice. You both knew the consequences of showing the Miraculous to anyone. And today could have been an absolute disaster. Lila had the Fox Miraculous. She planned to interfere with the Akuma fight. If Marinette hadn't warned me, we ALL could have lost our Miraculouses. She did the right thing, and I hate to punish her for that, but I can't let this slide. You have to know that."

"I know, I know!" Alya said. "I completely screwed up, and I get that. But please don't punish her for my mistake."

"Ladybug is the Guardian," Chat Noir said, now more or less having caught up with what had happened. "And…she's right."

"I'm so sorry, Kitty," Ladybug said. "If it makes you feel better, she was the most upset about letting you down after you fought so hard for her to have it back."

"She—She said that to me too," Alya said. "She absolutely did everything right, and doesn't deserve this. I cost myself and my bestie our Miraculouses because…because I was an idiot. I'm so, so, so very sorry, Chat Noir."

Chat nodded numbly, and Ladybug and Alya could both see tears starting to well up in his cat-like eyes.

"Hey, it's okay Kitty," Ladybug said, rushing to her partner's side. "If it makes you feel better, you were absolutely right. Marinette made a great hero."

"She really did. Multimouse is my new fav-," Alya started to say, and abruptly stopped.

Chat Noir and Ladybug snapped to attention as they realized that a neon butterfly icon had appeared over Alya's face.

"Oh crap," they said in unison as Chat Noir's paw pad and Ladybug's earrings beeped in tandem.


	9. Foxfire

_Foxfire! You have a burning desire for the truth. I'm granting you the power to incinerate all those who harmed you and your friends with their lies. In return you must do something for me. Bring me Ladybug and Chat Noir's Miraculous!_

"Kitty, did you see where the Akuma actually landed?" Ladybug whisper-shouted to Chat Noir. The blond superhero shook his head. "No," he whispered hoarsely.

"I've already used my Lucky Charm and I only have three spots left," Ladybug said.

"I've got four," Chat said looking at his ring. "And I've also already used Cataclysm"

Alya's face behind the Butterfly Icon was that of barely contorted rage.

"Rena Rage again, you think?" Chat asked, realizing suddenly that he and Ladybug had taken defensive stances despite their timers.

Ladybug just nodded grimly.

"No," Alya said out loud. "This…This isn't anyone's fault but my own. I made the mistake. There's no one else to blame. Not even Lila. Just me."

_But I'm offering you the chance to fix it. Isn't that what you want._

"No!" Alya said. "It doesn't matter that I don't have the Fox Miraculous. Because I know who I am. I'm Alya Césaire, I'm Rena Rouge, even if I don't have a Miraculous. I'm a hero. I'm going to fight for Paris, not you!"

_With my help, you could be Rena Rouge again. A real hero once more._

"I'm not Chloé you asshole. I can't be won that way. But you know what?" Alya said suddenly. "Yes. I will take your power!"

Ladybug and Chat Noir tensed.

"Because then I can use them to burn Paris's biggest liar! Not Lila. The Butterfly-Man who promises vengeance if someone steals jewelry for him. The biggest liar of them all. I'll burn him to ciders!"

There was a sudden flash of light, and the Akuma ejected from Alya's glasses and turned white, flittering away. Alya let out a gasp of shock, as if she'd just stepped outside into the freezing cold.

Ladybug and Chat Noir let out breaths that they hadn't realized that they'd been holding.

"I can't believe I did that," Alya said.

Ladybug looked over at Chat Noir, a question on her face that only he could read. Chat swallowed and nodded in answer.

Ladybug quietly walked up to Alya, and gently pressed a small hexoganal box into Alya's hands.

"No, Ladybug," She whispered. "it's not safe with me."

"You just proved that it is," Chat said quietly.

"You rejected Hawkmoth," Ladybug said. "You still have a lot to make up for, but…you've taken the first steps. Being a real hero, is about doing the right thing. No matter the stakes."

"You chose Paris over him," Ladybug said. "That makes you worthy of the Miraculous in my book."

"No," Alya said, shaking her head and handing the Miraculous back. "Not unless Marinette gets hers back too."

_Oh for crying out loud,_ Ladybug thought. Ladybug glanced over at Chat Noir, who was looking at Ladybug pleadingly.

Her earrings beeped and Chat's ring beeped again.

"All right," Ladybug said wryly, and pulled the Mouse Miraculous out of her yoyo and handed it to Alya.

"You be on extra guard, Alya." Ladybug said. "Lila's going to think that I took the Miraculous back. Don't let her find out you still have it. I mean it. You don't get another shot. You guard that thing with your life."

Alya nodded. She turned to go, but then paused.

"I wasn't the first to reject him like that," Alya said. "Kagami did it first, when she broke up with Adrien. He tried to Akumatize her and she rejected him. It was because of her telling me, that I knew that I could do that. I don't think that I'd have had the will to do it without her story."

Ladybug blinked in surprise. "I'll…keep that in mind, Alya. Kagami has been…a surprisingly good Miraculous Holder."

"Ladybug," Alya said. "When I threatened him…I got emotional feedback from him. I could feel his emotions. He was afraid. Kagami said the same thing. I think…I don't think he can control an Akuma whose target is himself."

"That's…also good to know," Ladybug said. Her earrings beeped again, insistently.

Alya nodded and turned back to the door to the roof, running down the stairs.

"Wipe that Smirk off your face, Chat," Ladybug said.

"What smirk?" Chat asked, grinning. He turned and pole vaulted away.

"Spots off," Marinette said transforming back. "Come on Tikki. Let's go get my purse, and give you a cookie. And then Alya will give me back the Mouse Necklace. Again."

Tikki giggled.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

_The Miraculous hadn't been like being Akumatized,_ Lila realized. The Akuma was borrowed power, and it felt like it. There was always an underlying current of 'this can be taken from you if I see fit' to it.

The Miraculous though…now THAT was power. She had felt it coursing through her body. She wanted that feeling back. She was going to get it back too. She wasn't going to settle for simple Akumatization anymore. Hawkmoth's Akumas were lame anyway. He always demanded the same thing, and always failed.

_If I had his powers,_ Lila thought. _I'd have Ladybug and Chat Noir's Miraculouses inside of a week_

Now THAT was a thought, Lila realized, and the wheels in her head began to turn.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"I'm sorry that I'm like a boomerang, Ladybug," Mullo said to Ladybug as they stood on a rooftop that night.

"It's fine, Mullo," Ladybug said shaking her head. "I don't mean to sound like I want to ditch you or anything…but…"

"I get it," Mullo said smiling. "Can't be Multimouse and Ladybug at the same time."

"Mullo, I renounce you," Ladybug said, the Kwami being sucked into the necklace. Ladybug placed the box back in her yoyo.

She swung forward on her yoyo, making her way across Paris towards her meeting spot with Chat Nor. She was unsurprised to find him already there.

"Hey Ladybug?" Chat asked tentatively.

"Yes, Kitty?" Ladybug said.

"You're a girl, right?" Chat said.

"Last time I checked," Ladybug said shaking her head.

"So…Let's say I did indeed find a special girl, like you said earlier," Chat asked sheepishly. "Someone I really like. Someone I could see a future with, maybe."

"Ooooh! Yes! Give me some of that Vicarious Living!" Ladybug said smiling.

"I…I even found out that she likes me…But…She kind of turned me down when I asked her out," he said, rubbing the back of his head. "And I kind of don't know what to do now."

"Didn't you and your ex just break up like four days ago?" Ladybug said, cocking her head,

"Um…yeah," Chat said.

"Is she aware of this?" Ladybug asked.

"You stupid cat," Ladybug said rolling her eyes. "She thinks you're trying to rebound with her."

"So…any advice?" Chat asked.

Ladybug paused for a moment. "Okay this is going to sound weird coming from me but…be persistent."

"That didn't really work with you," Chat said quietly.

"The situation with me is different," Ladybug said. "I've only ever seen you as my friend and partner. If she already likes you, then you need to prove to her that she means more than just you trying to mend your broken heart. PROVE to her that you really do want to be with her."

"Great! Um…How do I do that exactly?" Chat asked.

"Only you can answer that one, Kitty," Ladybug said chuckling.

"Ah good!" a new voice declared, and Chat and Ladybug spun around to see a figure leap down onto the rooftop beside them. He wore a long billowing cape that appeared to be covered in brown feathers, and a white, bird-shaped helmet, with a visor over his eyes.

"Ladybug, Chat Noir, Holders of the Miraculous of Creation and Destruction, last chosen disciples of Master Wang Fu…"

"Aquilla, Talons land," he interrupted himself and his outfit vanished, replaced by monks robes and a traveling cloak.

"I am Monk Master Gao, and this is Aquilla, the Kwami of Truth. And we…need to talk."


	10. Truth and Consequences

**Ladyblog Search: **_Lila Rossi Interview_

**UNKNOWN ERROR: PAGE NOT FOUND. Maybe it got Cataclysmed? The Page Index is your Lucky Charm!**

"Kwami of Truth, huh?" Chat Noir commented. "There's a girl I would like to introduce you to."

"Truth!" Aquilla said.

"Aquilla can sense truth and sincerity in a person," Gao said. "It is why I chose to take his Miraculous with me to Paris. Because I wanted him to meet both of you, and assess your commitment and sincerity."

"Truth," Aquilla repeated.

"We are fully committed to protecting Paris, and defeating Hawkmoth," Ladybug said. "And reclaiming the Butterfly and Peacock Miraculous for the Forces of Good."

"Truth" Aquilla said, grinning.

"Excellent to hear," Gao said. "Aquilla would know if you were not being honest. He can sense lies. A white lie, such as the necessary ones to protect your identities would cause him an upset stomach, but a bigger or more malicious lie…I entered the British Parliament 198 years ago, and Aquilla regurgitated his lunches from the past week, he became so ill."

"Changed my mind," Chat Noir said. "I do NOT want you meet her. No Kwami should get THAT sick."

"Also…Truth," Aquilla said looking horrified. "There is someone in your life who lies that much and that maliciously?"

"She's a nuisance bordering on a threat," Ladybug said. "She knows who my Fox holder is. Maybe the Turtle too. She tried to steal the Fox Miraculous before. She's caused other problems too."

"Truuuuth," Aquilla said, looking at Monk Gao with concern.

"One thing at a time, Aquilla," Gao said. "I have a reason for approaching you now."

"Truth," Aquilla echoed.

"You've come to take back the Miracle Box?" Ladybug said, defensively.

"False!" Aquilla said.

"Even if there weren't certain cosmic laws in play that make such a thing…Inconvenient…We do not intend to do so. For one…we are grateful to you Ladybug. Grateful for rescuing us from the belly of that Sentimonster. Being stuck in the magical digestive tract of a Sentimonster for two centuries is…"

"VERY unpleasant," Aquilla finished.

"Wang Fu's training was incomplete, and he made many mistakes. But HE was chosen as a Guardian for a reason. He had the gift. So do you. With a simple test of Character, he could see deep within a person's soul. One test, and he knew that both of you were the right ones to hold the Ladybug and Black Cat Miraculous. I have observed your actions for the last two weeks—fear not, I do not know your civilian identities—but I concur with Fu's assessment. The two of you are right for the roles. If somewhat unbalanced at the moment."

"Truth," Aquilla said.

"We're unbalanced?" Ladybug said in surprise.

"A little," Gao replied. "Owing to the fact that you are an active Guardian and Chat Noir is not. It places much of the burden of the Miracle Box squarely on your Shoulders, Ladybug."

"I don't want us to be out of Balance," Ladybug said, glancing over at Chat Noir. "I rely on my partner too much for that."

"Is there anything we can do to fix this situation?" Chat asked.

"The Monks recommended something that would indeed undo the imbalance, though I recommended against it," Gao said. "Because even the action would be imbalanced, at least at first."

"Truth," Aquilla said.

"What?" Ladybug insisted.

"You share the burden," Gao said. "Chat Noir becomes your co-guardian."

Ladybug looked horrified. "But then…when the time comes down the line…to pass the box on…doesn't that mean that…"

"Yes," Gao answered what Ladybug was thinking. "You will both lose your memories."

Chat Noir shuddered. "I'm not sure how I feel about that."

"Truth," Aquilla said.

"First, Ladybug has to choose to make you Co-Guardian," Gao said. "Only she can make that call. No one can force her into it. Then you have to accept that call Chat Noir. It's twofold."

"But it would balance us again?" Ladybug asked.

"It would start to, yes," Gao said. "But it would also lead to other complications. Waters might get rougher before they got calmer. For one thing, as Co-Guardians, you would not be permitted to keep secrets from each other. You would have to share your identities.'

"Wait what?" Chat asked blinking.

"I thought the rules were that no one could know?" Ladybug said.

"Only true while you are heroes alone. As Guardians, you need to know who each other are, so you can communicate with one another, as well as facilitate the distribution and collection of Miraculouses." Gao said, "This rule overrides that one. You will also need to share any training that Wang Fu gave you with Chat Noir. Get him up to speed with your Guardian Training, and on the same page. I assume Master Fu taught you our codex?"

"Yes," Ladybug said. "Although I don't have it memorized yet. I have the key, as well as a virtual copy of the Grimoire at home on my tablet. Master Fu had a tablet too, but I haven't been able to find it, and Wayzz doesn't know where it is."

"Mmmm…Concerning," Gao said. "Considering Fu's passing the Burden to you Ladybug…Can we assume that Hawkmoth may have confiscated it?"

"Well that thought hadn't occurred to me until just now," Ladybug muttered. "Thanks for that."

"You think Hawkmoth can make Power-Up potions?" Chat asked.

"No," Ladybug said shaking her head. "Most of the ingredients are written as metaphorical poems, which have to be deciphered, in addition to which the key ingredient in the potions is a Tear of Joy. That man does not look like he's ever shed a joyful tear in his life."

"Truth!" Aquilla and Chat Noir said in Unison.

"He could probably fix a damaged Miraculous, or discern how to create a Miracle Box connected to the Quantic Realm," Gao said. "Possibly forge a container that a Kwami can't phase through or something like that, but nothing too threatening without the ability to interpret our metaphors."

"Well that's a bit of a relief," Chat said. "Ladybug…Um…If…If you want to share the burden of the Miracle Box. I…I think I'm okay with it."

"Truth," Aquilla said hesitantly. "But borderline false. You waver."

"Loosing a lifetime of memories is a scary thing," Chat said. "But if Ladybug needs me, then I'm all hers, and all in."

"Truth," Aquilla said more confidently.

"You just want to share our identities," Ladybug said.

"No!" Chat said.

"False," Aquilla said.

"Okay, yes, but I've always wanted that, you know that LB," Chat said. "But sharing the burden…Knowing who each other are is the least of my concerns there. Helping improve your life and making our partnership work is."

"Full truth," Aquilla replied.

"I promise I won't flirt with you if we share," Chat said.

"False," Aquilla said.

"Promise I'll TRY not to flirt with you if we share," Chat Amended.

"Truth," Aquilla said.

"Planning to flirt with Multimouse instead?" Ladybug teased.

"What!? No! Of course not!" Chat said.

"Ugh, that is the most false thing you have said all night," Aquilla said looking rather ill.

"You're annoying," Chat said, narrowing his eyes at the Kwami.

"Truth," Aquilla replied, smiling.

"Can I think about it?" Ladybug said. "It's kind of a big deal."

"As I said," Gao said. "It's on you. You have to make the choice to offer Co-Guardianship to Chat Noir. Then he must accept. There's no other order."

"What do you think I should do?" Ladybug asked Gao.

Gao shook his head. "You are the Guardian, Ladybug. I am not Master Fu. I am not your mentor. I am your colleague as a fellow Guardian. I can't tell you what to do. It has to come from you."

"Then as my colleague," Ladybug asked. "What would you do in my shoes?"

"I would share the burden," Gao said without hesitation. "A single stick can be snapped in half. Two sticks tied together are far harder to break. We're an Order for a reason."

"Let me think it over, a few days," Ladybug said. "Okay?"

"There is no time limit," Gao said. "Only the pressure of your duties weighing down upon you. I leave you both to it. Aquilla. Wings Soar!"

The Kwami shot into a small golden ring on Aquilla's right hand and he retransformed into the Eagle-Themed hero, taking flight from the building.

"He can fly?!" Chat demanded. "So not fair."

"You've given me a lot to think about Chat Noir," Ladybug said, walking up to him. "Thank you for always being there for me."

She kissed him on the cheek, and then with a swing of her yoyo, she was off.

"Anytime Milady," Chat said.


	11. Lightening the Load

***AKUMA ALERT***

_Two Akumas have been spotted in the 21st arrondissement in Paris. Citizens are advised to remain indoors until Ladybug and Chat Noir have dealt with the threat._

"Someone should tell them the difference between an Akuma and a Sentimonster,": Chat Noir said, yawning. "And when there's two, it's probably one of each."

"Is that distinction really that important at this hour?" Ryuuko asked Chat Noir, curiously.

"I'm a cranky kitty when I haven't gotten my croissants yet," Chat said. "And my favorite bakery doesn't open for another hour."

"I am somewhat concerned by Ladybug's absence," Ryuuko said looking at the Lollipop Sentimonster that was angrily smashing its way through buildings, quickly being followed by a massive Akumatized Baby August.

"I'm not," Chat said, yawning again. "€50 says she's still asleep and doesn't even know about it yet. It was just dumb luck that the Akuma Alert went off when I was getting up to go to the bathroom, or I'd be asleep too. 4AM…Doesn't Hawkmoth need sleep?"

"Have you not heard, Chat Noir?" Ryuuko said. "There is no rest for the Wicked."

"Nice one," Chat said, smirking.

"I cannot take credit," Ryuuko admitted. "I made a similar comment to my boyfriend and it was his response."

Chat Noir was in the middle of another yawn when his jaw suddenly snapped shut. "I thought that you and the model broke up."

Ryuuko looked at Chat questioningly.

"Not that I'm a cat who looks for the latest hot gossip or anything, but, you know…I've been trying to keep tabs on my teammates."

"Ah…yes. Not him." Ryuuko admitted.

"You…have a new boyfriend already?" Chat said.

"We…haven't actually defined our relationship as of yet," Ryuuko admitted uncomfortably. "We're both 'on the rebound' as they say, so we are…taking it slow. But…I like him a lot. We…balance each other"

"Who is the…"

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm so sorry I'm late!" Ladybug said, swinging up to join them. "I was meditating with my mother, my phone was in my room, so I didn't get the Akuma Alert, and my Kwami couldn't exactly get my attention while my mom was right there."

"You're here now, Milady," Chat said. "That's all that matters. Now I know a baby who is up way past his bedtime."

"Ladybug," Ryuuko said. "If I may…I have a plan that I would like to implement before you use a Lucky Charm."

"A good leader delegates responsibility," Ladybug said grinning. "What have you got Ryuuko?"

"I electrocute the Sentimonster while Chat Noir distracts Gigantitan, You swing in and retrieve the Akumatized and Amoked pacifier and bib." Ryuuko said. "Simple, but possibly effective."

Ladybug gave Ryuuko a quick nod.

"LIGHTNING DRAGON!"

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Adrien adjusted his hair in the reflection of the window of the Tom & Sabine Boulangerie Patisserie for about the eighth time.

"Good morning Adrien," Sabine Cheng said smiling at him. "Can I help you this morning?"

"Oh yes," Adrien said. "I've been craving one of those Raspberry Cream Cheese Croissants of yours all morning. I'll take four."

"Of course dear," Sabine said. "Anything else?"

"Did Marinette leave for school already?" Adrien asked. "I was kind of hoping to walk with her?"

Sabine beamed brightly, but didn't have a chance to answer as Marinette came rushing down the stairs and tumbling into the Patisserie. She froze for a moment when she saw Adrien.

Sabine brightly handed Adrien the bag with the croissants in them.

"H—hey Marinette," Adrien said, rubbing the back of his head. "Do…do you want to walk to school together?"

"I suppose that would be okay," Marinette said guardedly.

_That smile_ Adrien thought. _Those eyes. Bluebell eyes get me every time. I am such a sucker for them._

"So," Marinette said as Adrien held the door for her. "You came by for some croissants?"

"This morning's Akuma-slash-Sentimonster attack woke me up earlier than even I usually get up. So, yeah…been craving them all morning." Adrien said. "Plus any excuse to walk to school with a beautiful girl at my side…I have to take, right?"

Marinette stumbled slightly upon Adrien saying that, but Adrien grabbed her arms and caught her.

"You…shouldn't say things like that," Marinette said. "Could give someone the wrong idea."

Adrien cocked an eyebrow at her.

"What idea? That I would like to date you? That's not a wrong idea Marinette. I thought I made that clear when I asked you to the movies the other day."

"You're just trying to get over Kagami," Marinette said. "I don't want to be anyone's second choice."

"Second choice?" Adrien said. "I asked you out because I panicked. You said you were over me, and I didn't know how to react to that. I wanted to ask you out to make you…less over me? But I honestly was planning to ask you out in two weeks like Kagami said. You're…an incredible girl, Marinette. God I'd be lucky to date you."

Marinette could feel her heart melting in her chest. She took a deep cleansing breath, forcing the butterflies out of her stomach.

"Maybe if you had asked me properly in the first place, I might have said yes," she said. "But now…now there's a 'what-if' hanging over the whole thing."

"There doesn't have to be, Marinette," Adrien said. "But I'm going to be clear and honest about my feelings from this point on. I like you Marinette. I'm pretty sure that I always have liked you. I just tend towards obliviousness sometimes. But I'd like to think that if you had asked me out at nearly any point in time last year, I'd have leapt at the chance to go out with you. I made your birthday gift, I bought Nino's. Playing Mecha-Strike with you is the most fun I've had ever, except maybe that one time that you and I ran around the city avoiding my crazy fans. I love doing things with you Marinette. Doing things with you makes me happy. So why wouldn't I want to date you? Based on past experiences…I'd be a statistically happier person if I did. "

Marinette blushed and looked down.

"Your PJs were cute, too," Adrien said. "Did you design them yourself?"

Marinette groaned, sounding mortified.

"That's not really an answer," Adrien said.

"Yes," Marinette squeaked.

"Very cool," Adrien said. "So…did you maybe change your mind on the movies?"

"Absolutely not Adrien," Marinette said, smiling almost playfully.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Hey kitty," Ladybug said, swinging up to the Eiffel Tower and landing next to Chat Noir, who was looking out at the city.

"I think that this view would the worst thing to forget," Chat said. "It reminds me every day how much I adore this city."

"Are you still in?" Ladybug asked softly.

"You and me against the World, Milady," Chat said. "Always has been, always will be."

Ladybug sucked in a deep breath.

"I want to do it," she said. "I thought I could shoulder this burden alone, but…the pressure is starting to strain me…and Hawkmoth targeting the Reserve Heroes is piling on even more pressure. It's just a matter of time before he successfully Akumatizes me. Unless I share the burden with you."

"Then I'm all in," Chat said leaping to his feet. "Let's…lets do this thing."

Ladybug gestured towards him, and then swung off the tower, Chat Noir quickly followed her to the park, landing nimbly next to their statue. The rest of the park was deserted.

"You may be surprised by who I really am Kitty," Ladybug said quietly.

"You might be surprised yourself milady," Chat replied.

"Tikki?"

"Plagg?"

"Spots off,"

"Claws in"


	12. Unburdened

**Luka Couffaine is in a Relationship with Kagami Tsurugi**

**Mylène Haprèle, Ivan Bruel, and Anarka Couffaine Like this.**

**Juleka Couffaine and Rose Lavillant *HEART* this.**

Marinette's eyes widened in shock and her hands clasped over her mouth as she let out a soft squeak of surprise.

Adrien's face however registered no surprise whatsoever, instead brightening into absolute pure unadulterated joy.

"Of course you are!" Adrien said. "Of course you're Ladybug. Who else could you be? I'm not surprised at all. A little confused, maybe, but not surprised. No one else is so beautiful, brilliant, kind, creative, ingenuitive, brave…Of course you're Marinette."

"A…Adrien," Marinette wimpered, her hands still over her mouth.

_Oh God, the Stutter is back_, she thought in horror.

Adrien just grinned, and nodded.

Marinette knew she was doomed. It had been hard enough trying to move past Adrien when he started seeing Kagami…now that she knew that the kind, gentle, generous boy who she'd been smitten with since the beginning of the school year was also her brave, quirky, pun-loving dork of a partner, she was doomed.

It wasn't even that hard to reconcile them, really. Marinette hadn't looked for it, because she hadn't wanted to. But it was so obvious in hindsight that she couldn't even protest its existence.

Knowing that Adrien had managed to impress Master Fu, who had a talent for reading people's souls according to Master Gao…knowing that Adrien was a Miraculous Hero. She would never fall out of love with him now. She would never move on. She was doomed.

"Marinette, this changes everything," Adrien whispered. "I know you didn't want to date anyone, because we'll eventually have to give up our memories…but I know that it's you now. And I'm okay with that. Because I already fell in love with you three times."

"Three?" Marinette managed to squeak.

"First I fell in love with my amazing partner," he said. "Who overcame her anxieties to face down and call out Hawkmoth the day we became the heroes of Paris."

"Marinette was a slow build, however. But very steady," Adrien said. "I'm not even sure when it happened. Might have been when we danced at Chloé's party, or might have been when we ran around Paris avoiding my crazy fans. But one way or another, I was a goner then. You know I never once told the media that you weren't my girlfriend. I kind of liked the idea that they had assumed you were, since I definitely thought that a girl who designed Jagged Stone's glasses AND album cover was out of my league."

"And then there was that third time," Adrien said. "I don't know exactly how or why, but somehow, within an hour, with no memories and no identities holding us back…I managed to fall in love with you again."

"Oh my God," Marinette whispered. "That's why we kissed after Oblivio."

"And when we have to give up our memories again, for keeps," Adrien said. "When the Burden of the Miracle Box goes to the next generation in 75 or a hundred years from now? I can't wait to fall in love with you again Marinette Dupain-Cheng. My Ladybug, My Princess."

"You stupid cat!" Marinette squealed, and then launched herself at Adrien. Before the boy even realized what was happening, her lips were pressed up against his, and they were kissing, and it was warm and gentle and everything that both of them had dreamed it would been.

Marinette tasted like raspberry cream cheese croissants and pistachio macarons, and Adrien smelled like his fragrance and wildflowers and a hint of camembert cheese, and the kiss lasted almost a full minute before they broke apart.

"So…" Adrien said grinning. "How about that movie?"

"Absolutely not, Adrien," Marinette said. "You are going to wait two weeks and ask me out properly, like Kagami TOLD you to."

They both snorted and began giggling uncontrollably.

"But we're not seeing a movie," Marinette said. "I can do better than that."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"So I've been racking my brain all day," Adrien said. The two of them were cuddled up on Marinette's chaise after school the following day. "How, the heck did you pull off the Multimouse thing?"

"When the army of Kwamis attacked Kwamibuster," Marinette said grinning. "Did you ever spot Trixx among them?"

"You evil genius, you!" Adrien said smirking. "You staged that 'accidental' reveal for me, specifically. That's so brilliant. Way better than my 'elementary school' nonsense."

"Hey, don't knock it," Marinette said. "Your plan worked too. I was convinced that you went to another school."

"I think that you just didn't want to pick at the thread," Adrien said.

"What about you?" Marinette said. "I swear I remember seeing Adrien and Chat Noir standing next to each other when we fought Gorizilla."

"You mean Wayhem wearing a helmet with an Adrien cutout head plastered to the front of it?" Adrien said grinning.

"I guess we're both pretty good at the misdirect when we put our minds to it," Marinette said brightly.

"Man I must have been driving you nuts with the Multimouse thing," Adrien said.

"Oh you have no idea," Marinette said. "I couldn't argue with you—or Alya later—or fight back, because if I pushed too hard, you guys would be questioning why I didn't want Marinette to have the Mouse Miraculous so bad, but I was dreading that an Akuma would happen that would require Multimouse and I couldn't think of how the hell I was getting out of it."

"You would have had to find an excuse to pass the Miraculous to someone else in order to make sure that all of the variables you needed were in place," Adrien said.

"I suppose that I would have; _Aspik,"_ Marinette said.

"Ugh," Adrien sighed. "Can we please not bring up the 25,913 times that I failed you."

"I count it as ONE time, Adrien," Marinette said dryly.

"One time that lasted three months," Adrien admitted.

"You didn't fail because you were bad at the Snake," Marinette said. "You failed because you're my Chat Noir, and I ALWAYS need you. You did much better as Snake Noir, if I recall."

"Yeah, that was only three Second Chances," Adrien admitted.

"God I'm such a blind idiot sometimes," Marinette said. "Snake Noir's costume even looked remarkably similar to Aspik's…and I don't recall ever telling you Sass's name, and yet you United the Miraculouses instantly."

"Marinette?" Adrien asked.

"Yes?" she replied tentatively.

"Will you be my secret girlfriend?" he asked.

"You just can't wait, can you?" Marinette said.

"I really can't," Adrien admitted. "Because you're IT for me, Marinette."

"You're IT for me too Adrien," Marinette said. "Secret boyfriend. Could be fun. Plus I can use it to torture Alya."

Adrien pulled out his phone and held it up in front of Marinette's face so that she could see.

**Adrien Agreste is in a Relationship.**

"So we should probably figure out what to do about future Miraculous Holders," Marinette said. "Since, Adrien Agreste, aka Chat Noir is now my official Co-Guardian."

"We should probably slow down on recruiting friends and Classmates for now," Adrien said. "We already know that Hawkmoth could pick at that thread and unravel our identities."

"Did you just make a sewing pun?" Marinette said.

"I aims to please my Lady with my punnage," Adrien said.

"What are your thoughts on the current holders?" Marinette asked.

"Alya, Nino, Kagami, Kim, Max, and Luka were great choices," Adrien said. "And as I picked Luka after my 25,913 failures-,"

"ONE failure," Marinette corrected.

"Agree to disagree," Adrien said. "I think they're all ideal for their Miraculouses, even if they're compromised. I think that Kagami and Alya especially deserve some special consideration, having resisted Akumas and Scared off Hawkmoth."

"Yeah," Marinette said, the wheels in her head starting to turn. "They did do that…I may have the beginnings of an idea forming."

"As to a replacement Queen Bee," Adrien said.

"We are retiring that Name," Marinette said sternly.

"Agreed," Adrien said. "As for a replacement Bee Miraculous User of Indeterminate Name, I suggest maybe Aurore Beauréal?"

"She could be a good choice," Marinette said. "Still in our school, but a little more distant from our usual circle. Wait…did you pick her just to annoy Chloé?"

"What?" Adrien yelped. "No! Wait? Aquilla isn't nearby is he? Well the answer is still mostly 'no'."

"Kitty," Marinette said. "We don't want anyone to find out who our backup heroes are. Especially Chloé, she knows too many as is. So making it Aurore just to stick it in Chloé's face isn't a good enough reason."

"I think any new Bee user is good enough to rub in Chloé's face, Milady, but having it be Aurore would be like a fun little inside joke for the three of us. And Aurore is a sweetheart when she's not Akumatized. I spent a lot of time with her and Mierelle during Friendship Day," Adrien said.

Their phones suddenly chimed in unison with an Akuma Alert. They both sighed indignantly, breaking their cuddle.

"Well," Marinette said, approaching the Miracle Box and unlocking it. She plucked the Bee from its resting place and put it in a box.

"No time like the present, Kitty," Marinette said grinning. "This is how I started my Guardian Training, by picking a Temporary Holder."

"Alya," Adrien said, rolling his eyes.

"Go find Aurore," Marinette said. "Meet us at the Akuma. Which is…Ugh. Attacking the Couffaine Houseboat. Joy. Looks like Ryuuko is already on the scene though."

"Before we go," Adrien said grinning…"Can I see?"

"Silly Kitty," Marinette said. "Tikki! Spots on!"

"Plagg! Claws out!"


	13. Sharing the Burden

**A Better Bee**

By Alya Césaire

_A new Bee Hero, Mellona debuted today at the site of the latest Akuma attack; and I for one am thrilled. For one, as a new hero, her identity is completely unknown to Hawkmoth, he can't target her or her family. For another she's just an overall more pleasant person than that self-centered witch Chloé, With the recent interview with Chat Noir explaining exactly what Chloé did while Akumatized into Miracle Queen, the city is up in arms, calling for her arrest and punishment. I for one am with them. Mellona appears to be an incredibly pleasant and friendly hero, and I for one hope we see more of her._

"So," Alya said, staring down Adrien. "Do you want to tell us who your new girlfriend is? Because not two days ago you were trying to get with my girl, Marinette."

"Oh God," Adrien said. "I'd be so lucky to be dating Marinette. She's the best."

"But you're not?" Alya asked suspiciously.

"Alya," Adrien said sternly. "If I was dating Marinette, don't you think Marinette would have told you?"

"I guess," Alya said, side-eying him.

"Good morning, Alya, Nino, Adrien," Marinette said, smiling at her friends as she entered. "I brought you guys some pastries."

"Marinette," Alya said watching her friend closely. "Adrien is apparently now in a relationship. But he won't say with who."

_Is it you?_ Was the silent question that Alya was trying to ask.

"Good for you, Adrien," Marinette said smiling as she walked up to her seat.

Alya looked exasperated.

"Are you guys doing anything for the Serenade by the Seine next week?" Adrien asked.

"I have plans that night," Marinette said. "Unfortunately, I can't get out of them. Which is why I wanted to give you and Nino these. Clara Nightingale gave them to me."

"Whoa!" Nino grinned, taking the passes from Marinette as she handed them to him. "These are the backstage on-the-barge passes. Nice!"

"What a coincidence," Adrien said. "My girlfriend got me a pass too."

"So we're going to meet this mystery-lady next Friday?" Nino said.

Alya glanced at Marinette and Adrien suspiciously, but their expressions remained neutral.

"Serenade by the Seine?" Lila's voice chimed in from behind the couple. "That's so cool, Nino. I'm going too of course. Jagged Stone gave me a pass. I'm sure that I'll see you and Alya there."

"That's weird," Adrien commented dryly. "Since my new girlfriend is Jagged's personal guest and each artist only gets two guest passes."

"Well, I mean, Jagged is a really big deal, so I'm sure he just asked for a third—New Girlfriend? What new girlfriend?" Lila suddenly demanded.

Adrien shook his head. "My dad was already giving me trouble about Kagami breaking up with me. Getting together with my new girlfriend so soon after that breakup has caused me no small amount of flack—"

"I'd call your dad a tool dude," Nino said. "But that would be an insult to construction equipment everywhere."

"—So I don't want it getting back to him who I'm seeing now. She wants it to remain quiet. I can trust you to be quiet, right Lila?"

"—Oh…oh yes, of course," Lila said.

"Bad kitty," Marinette whispered, elbowing Adrien. "Don't tease the liar."

"So," Alya said. "You know that you can't trust her, right?"

"Oh," Adrien said feigning surprise. "Alya, when did you catch onto the fact that Lila is the biggest liar this side of Europe?"

"So…you do know!" Alya said.

"Of course I know," Adrien said rolling his eyes. "It's just been me and Marinette against her nonsense for months now. So glad that someone else caught on."

"You and Marinette, huh?" Alya said. "Together?"

"Alya, I told you the other day that I'm not pursing a relationship with anyone," Marinette said.

"BUT," Alya said. "Adrien, you said that you wanted to go out with Marinette. That you asked her to the movies."

"Three times now," Adrien said. "She turned me down every time. Marinette's amazing, and I'd adore going out with her. But three rejections is a little more than my heart can really take."

"You…you…" Alya threw up her hands in frustration. "You turned Adrien, Adrien Agreste, down, three times?"

"Hey Marinette, will you go to the movies with me?" Adrien asked.

"Absolutely not, Adrien," Marinette said dully. "No Alya, I turned him down four times. I'd sooner go on a date with Chat Noir."

Adrien forced himself to suppress a grin.

"That could happen!" Alya snapped. "You know he has a crush on you! Because of how hard he fought—"

"Alya, you really shouldn't say anything that shouldn't be public knowledge," Marinette said.

Alya looked about ready to strangle her best friend.

"AAARGGH!" Alya yelped in annoyance, and then sat down in Adrien's seat, folding her arms.

"So…should I just go sit with Marinette then?" Adrien said looking at Alya, who nodded quietly. Adrien pulled out his phone and started texting.

**Adrien: You were right, that was fun.**

**Bugaboo: I'd almost feel bad, but…I don't. I just don't.**

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Chat Noir and Ladybug swung down from Notre Dame Cathedral, landing near the Couffaine Houseboat.

"I don't like this plan, Milady," Chat said quietly. "It makes me anxious. It could go so wrong so fast."

"Alya and Kagami gave us the keys," Ladybug said. "We can take Hawkmoth down, if we time it right."

"But so much could go wrong," Chat said quietly. "You know I worry about you."

"Yes kitty," Ladybug said. "Which is why we're bringing Luka into this. Only way we get a second chance at this plan is with the Snake Miraculous."

"Ladybug? Chat Noir?" Luka asked, suddenly stepping off of the houseboat, his guitar in hand. "What are you guys doing here?"

Chat opened his mouth to explain, but then did a double take when he saw Kagami follow Luka off the boat and take his hand.

I…guess that explains why she was on the scene for the Akuma Attack yesterday, Chat thought. But I did NOT see that coming.

Ladybug seemed a little taken aback as well. "Kagami. I wasn't…expecting to see you here."

Kagami flushed. "You did charge us with watching over Luka while we had our Miraculouses and he didn't."

"Something tells me this is more than that," Ladybug said. Both Luka and Kagami blushed. "But I won't pry. Luka Couffaine; this is the Miraculous of the Snake, which grants the power of Second Chance. We're going to need it very soon."

"Milady has an insane plan that I'm against," Chat said quietly. "So I convinced her to bring in Viperion so we could take it back, just in case it went badly."

"Whatever you need, Ladybug," Luka said. "I'm there."

Ladybug handed Luka the Miraculous Box. Luka opened it, and there was a flash of mint green, then Sass was floating above the box. Luka gingerly picked up the Miraculous and put it on.

"Longg," Sass said politely towards Kagami. "Sass," The Dragon Kwami responded, equally cordially from Kagami's jacket pocket.

"Are you sure we're doing this?" Chat asked.

Ladybug nodded. "It's our best shot."

"What exactly are we doing?" Luka asked.

"Tomorrow night," Ladybug said. "We meet on top of the Louvre at 1am. We're going to deal with the Hawkmoth problem once and for all."

"How exactly are we going to do that?" Kagami asked.

"I hate this," Chat said, his ears flattening.

"We're going to let him Akumatize me," Ladybug said.


	14. Miracle Guardian

_Don't be bemused, it's just the news. Chloé Bourgeois had been arrested. More on this story as it develops._

Luka pulled up next to Kagami's house on his moped, and glanced up at Kagami's window.

He had to remain quiet, he knew that Tomoe didn't like him; ('beneath her daughter's station' had been Tomoe's exact words.) and he didn't want to give away that her daughter was sneaking out of the house to spend time with him. Of course it was for superhero business, but that was neither here nor there. They had already agreed to be each other's alibi should they get caught sneaking out.

Not that Anarka actually cared that Luka was sneaking out to see his girlfriend…she actually encouraged it.

Luka glanced up at Kagami's window again when suddenly Kagami climbed onto the back of the moped, startling Luka.

"Wow," Luka commented. "That was…surprisingly quiet. How did you manage to sneak past your mom?"

"It is not difficult for the wind to sneak past a blind woman," Kagami said smiling as she handed Longg a piece of wasabi, which the dragon Kwami eagerly gobbled up.

"Longg likes wasabi?" Luka asked as he drove the moped into a nearby alley just a block or two from Kagami's townhouse. They got off of the moped, removing their helmets.

"I prefer any spicy food that stimulates the nose, rather than the tongue," Longg said back. "Horseradish, Mustard, and yes, wasabi, which is my favorite, but difficult to come by in Europe. Fortunately Mistress Kagami-san has a supply of real wasabi shipped in from Japan."

"Sass likes figs," Luka said. "I'd never even seen a fig before, and it took me over an hour to find a grocery store that had them."

"I can eat other fruits," Sass said. "But figs are my preference."

"Sass! Scales Slither!"

"Longg, Bring the Storm!"

Viperion and Ryuuko leapt up from the alley and onto the rooftops above them. They began running along the roofs in the direction of the Louvre. It took less than 15 minutes to get there, and they were clearly among the last to arrive, as Rena Rouge, Carapace, Pegasus, and King Monkey were all standing around waiting.

Ryuuko and Viperion leapt down and joined them.

"Viperion!" Rena exclaimed in surprise. "I was not expecting you."

"Viperion is necessary," Chat Noir said, pole vaulting in alongside Ladybug. "Because I want to be able to take this back in a heartbeat if it goes wrong."

"No Mellona?" Rena asked.

Ladybug shook her head. "She's too green. I wanted veterans only for this one."

"What about Multimouse?" Rena asked.

"Who?" King Monkey asked, snapping his head towards Rena.

"My secret weapon," Ladybug said. "The only reserve hero who wasn't compromised by Miracle Queen. She couldn't make it, due to a prior commitment in her civilian life."

"Hawkmoth has been targeting you guys for over a week now," Chat said. "We figured out a while ago that what he wanted, was to stress Ladybug out enough to Akumatize her. This is part of why we handed out your Miraculouses on a Semi-Permanent basis. She wanted to relieve some of the stress by giving you guys some basic protection."

"Unfortunately recent events at Francois Dupont involving Rena, Multimouse, and a civilian who will remain nameless," Ladybug said. "Added to my stress rather than detracted from it."

Rena winced and looked ashamed.

"Is it the thing about Lila being a lying witch?" King Monkey asked, scratching his head. Pegasus elbowed him.

"Yes," Ladybug said. "Lila Rossi is a liar. She's not my 'BFF' or whatever other nonsense she told the Ladyblog."

"And again, I am so sorry!" Rena interjected. Ladybug held up her hand.

"You've made up for it. And you warned them too, so they know not to trust her as well," Ladybug said. "So it's water under the bridge."

"I was not warned," Ryuuko said. "However it was not necessary to warn me either. I already knew that she was a rat."

"Same," Viperion said.

"Yes, okay, everyone knew except me," Rena said. "Moving on."

Pegasus cleared his throat. "Do not feel bad, Rena. King Monkey and I were taken with her as well."

"Point is," Chat Noir said. "Hawkmoth's been doing his darndest to Akumatize milady. But Rena and Ryuuko proved last week that that can potentially be a double-edge sword."

"A dangerous plan, Ladybug," a deep voice declared, startling the assembled heroes. Ladybug spun around in place to see a familiar Tibetan monk had joined them on the roof.

"Master Gao!" Chat said in surprise. "Where did you come from?"

"I was curious about the half-dozen Miraculous Holders assembled upon the roof of the world's largest museum, and I felt the need to investigate. I wanted to ensure that they weren't doing anything stupid."

"Rest assured, Master Gao," Chat said quietly. "We absolutely are."

"Ah," Gao said. "Well, then Aquilla and I shall observe."

"Not going to stop us?" Ladybug inquired.

"You are my colleague as a fellow Guardian, not my student," Gao said. "I will assist if you need me, but it is not my place to tell you how to handle your own Miraculous in your own City."

"I appreciate that, Master Gao," Ladybug said.

"Okay," She continued. "There's a lot that could go wrong here, so…Carapace. I want you between me and Chat. If Hawkmoth gets his hooks in me, Shellter. Don't let me at Chat's Ring. Pegasus, I want you ready to slap me with Voyage, and move me out of Hawkmoth's range if I look like I'm gonna be able to take down Carapace. King Monkey…I think it goes without saying that you should be ready to disrupt my powers with an Uproar if Necessary. Rena…make certain that I don't actually know the locations of the team. Use Mirage to shuffle them around."

"And Viperion," Chat said. "I want you to set Second Chance the MOMENT you see the Butterfly. Ryuuko, your job is to defend Viperion. A Hawkmoth-Controlled Ladybug is smart enough to attack him first."

"Is everyone clear on their roles?" Ladybug asked. The assembled heroes nodded.

Ladybug reached into her yoyo and pulled out a beaded bracelet. Chat Noir took her hand and squeezed it reassuringly. She placed the bracelet on her left arm and quietly sat down, closing her eyes.

Then Marinette let it go. She allowed all of the stress that she'd been purging from her system through her morning meditations with her mother simply wash over her. The pain of losing Master Fu. The pain of Adrien and Kagami's (admittedly now-defunct relationship) the Burden of the Guardian itself, weighing down upon her. She allowed every stray negative thought that she'd keep out of her head to have free reign.

Viperion spotted it first.

"Second Chance!" he declared, setting the bracelet.

"Akuma!" Pegasus declared a beat later, spotting it.

"Mirage!" Rena Rouge declared, activating an illusion as the heroes shuffled positions.

"Okay, Milady," Chat said. "Here goes everything."

Ladybug opened her eyes and held up her left hand, allowing the Akuma to flitter into her bracelet.

_Miracle Guardian,_ he purred. _I am Hawkmoth. I'm granting you the power to restore and remove memories. You can restore your mentor, as well as wipe the identities of your team from Chloé and Lila's minds. All I ask is a small favor in return!_

Ladybug's eyes snapped open and she smiled. "Agreed, Hawkmoth!"

The purple energy flowed out of the bracelet.

"SECOND CHANCE!" Viperion declared.

"Akuma!" Pegasus declared a beat later, spotting it.

"Mirage!" Rena Rouge declared, activating an illusion as the heroes shuffled positions.

"Okay, Milady," Chat said. "Here—"

"Wait!" Viperion declared. "She gave in way too fast last time. There wasn't even a struggle."

"What?" Ladybug winced as the Butterfly flittered closer to her.

"What power does he offer you?" Gao asked suggestively. "I'd wager he's had time to think over just how he could tempt you, and based on the last Chance, he was right."

The Butterfly landed on Ladybug's bracelet.

_Miracle Guardian,_ he purred. _I am Hawkmoth. I'm granting you the power to restore and remove memories. You can restore your mentor, as well as wipe the identities of your team from Chloé and Lila's minds. All I ask is a small favor in return!_

"The power to take and restore memories," Ladybug repeated out loud. The purple energy began to expand.

"SECOND CHANCE!" Viperion yelled, setting the bracelet again.

"Akuma!" Pegasus declared a beat later, spotting it.

"Mirage!" Rena Rouge declared, activating an illusion as the heroes shuffled positions.

"Okay, Milady," Chat said. "Here goes—"

"He's going to offer you the power to take and restore memories," Viperion declared. "You've given into it within seconds, twice now."

Ladybug's eyes snapped open.

"Master Fu," she whispered. "And the threat posed by Chloé and Lila. Oh he's good. Admittedly good."

The Butterfly flittered into the bracelet, but this time, Ladybug steeled her mind.

_Miracle Guardian,_ he purred. _I am Hawkmoth. I'm granting you the power to—_

"To take and restore memories," Ladybug declared out loud. "Trying to tempt me with the power to restore my mentor, as well as the ability to protect my team from Chloé."

_And all I ask in return, Hawkmoth said. Is to borrow your Miraculous. And Chat Noir's. A simple loan to grant my wish, and I'll never touch another Miraculous again. You can even have the Butterfly and Peacock. I won't need them anymore._

"Hawkmoth," Ladybug said, testing the connection. It was true. She could feel his emotions as well as he could feel hers. "There's a price to pay for that kind of wish. I can feel it…you want to…restore someone. But the Universe will balance out the wish. It will take someone else away in return."

_I am more than willing to take her place._ Hawkmoth said.

"It won't be you," Ladybug said. "The Universe will balance it out by taking someone who is just as important to you as she is. And then we'll just be back where we started."

_There's no one more important to me than she is,_ Hawkmoth said. _Which is why the wish will take me._

"Lie!" Aquilla suddenly yelled and flittered over to Ladybug. "I don't know what he said, Ladybug, but I could sense that lie even through your connection. It is blatant…but worse, he THINKS it's true. He's lying to himself. Whatever he said, it was a lie."

"You lie, Hawkmoth," Ladybug said. "But that's okay. I'll take your powers…but you can't have my Miraculous."

The energy began to expand from the bracelet and Miracle Guardian stood up. "It's okay, Viperion. Don't need to reset it this time."

She could feel the tugging on the power that she'd just absorbed, as well as the fear on Hawkmoth's end of the connection. Hawkmoth was attempting to recall the Akuma.

"What's the matter, Hawkmoth?" Miracle Guardian demanded. "Can't control an Akuma who is pointed at you? You wanted to Akumatize me…well guess what…you did. Now you have to face the Consequences."

Her eyes glowed blue.

"FORGET, Hawkmoth. Forget the identities of every reserve hero. FORGET!"

She felt a twinge of panic on the other end of the connection.

"Now…You will forget the Miraculous altogether! You will forget completely what a Miraculous is, a Kwami…everything you know connected to the Miraculous, will. Be. Gone!"

She felt a blast of fear suddenly hit her and then…

_What? Where am I? What am I wearing? Where did all of these butterflies come from?_

"I can help you," Miracle Guardian said.

_Who…who said that? Where are you?_

"Repeat after me," Miracle Guardian said. "Nooroo."

_Nooroo?_

"Dark wings fall," Miracle Guardian said.

_'Dark wings fall?'_

Instantly the connection was severed.

"MEMORY CHARM!" Miracle Guardian declared, throwing her yo-yo into the air. A black umbrella with red spots fell out, and she caught it.

"Erase the knowledge of the Backup Heroes from the minds of every person who knows it, and would exploit it," Miracle Guardian said. "Chloé, Lila, Hawkmoth, Mayura."

She looked at the reserve heroes—or at least the Mirage of them—around her.

"I should remove the knowledge from you guys too," she said. "For safety's sake…but the way you guys teamed up and came together to protect each other, really impressed me. So I'm not going to. That's my call, right?"

Master Gao nodded.

"Restore Master Fu's…" she whispered to the umbrella, but caught sight of Gao slowly shaking his head. "Love."

Miracle Guardian whispered these words. "Bring back his memories of the woman he loves, slowly…over time. But don't restore knowledge of the Miraculous. Or…or of me or Chat Noir."

"True love is about sacrificing what you want," Gao said. "For what is best for others."

"Truth," Aquilla said solemnly.

"Gonna be little spiteful," Miracle Guardian said to the umbrella. "Consider this payback for Fu. Wipe Hawkmoth's mind completely. As empty as Fu's was when he passed on the Burden."

"MIRACULOUS MEMORYBUGS!" she yelled, and threw the Umbrella into the air, a wave of Ladybugs surged out into the city.

"Chat?" she said, removing the bracelet and holding it out.

'Ryuuko' stepped forward and the Mirage dissolved, revealing Chat Noir.

"CATACLYSM!" he said, lightly touching the bracelet. It crumbled to dust.

"I'll make you another one, Milady," he whispered.

"No more evil doing for you, little Akuma," Ladybug declared, snatching the expulsed butterfly out of the air with her yoyo. "It's time to de-evilize!"

"Bye-bye little butterfly," Ladybug whispered.

"Pegasus, can you take us to the School?" Ladybug asked.

"Affirmative, Ladybug. Voyage!"

A moment later they all emerged from Pegasus's portal on the front steps of Francois Dupont.

"Does this mean Hawkmoth is gone for good?" King Monkey asked.

"No," Ladybug shook her head. "I'm sure that Mayura will use the Butterfly to undo what I did to him. That's why I wiped knowledge of your identities from his mind multiple times."

"So that when she restores him," Pegasus said excitedly. "It will be from the magical equivalent of the 'last backup'. Very clever, Ladybug."

"If it works?" Chat Noir said.

"I think it will," Ladybug said. "I got a pretty good feel for how my powers were supposed to work after Akumatization. Redundantly wiping the same information over and over again, should have hit the subconscious as well as conscious mind."

"I assume then," Viperion said, taking off his Miraculous, instantly ejecting Sass and transforming back into Luka. "That there's no longer any real need for us to hold onto these?"

Ladybug nodded. A wave of disappointment washed over the reserve heroes.

"Wayzz, Shell off," Nino said as Chat Noir approached him.

"Xuppu, Show's Over," Kim said.

"Kaalki, Full Stop," Max echoed, as the two friends removed their Miraculouses and handed them to Ladybug.

Chat approached Luka, who handed him the Snake Miraculous.

Alya and Kagami approached Ladybug with their necklaces.

"Not you two," Ladybug said. "You both proved yourselves stronger than Hawkmoth. You're going to guard your Miraculouses until the threat of Hawkmoth is done for good, and the Butterfly and Peacock are back in the Miracle Box."

Both girls staggered in shock.

"I will try to be worthy of the Honor you have bestowed upon us," Kagami whispered.

"What about…Mar—Multimouse?" Alya asked.

"Nope," Ladybug said. "Sorry. I'll be reclaiming her Miraculous too. Only you two rejected Hawkmoth. So only you two get to keep those. IF you choose. I can take them back if you don't want the full time responsibility."

"No," Alya said. "I'm in."

"As am I," Kagami nodded.

"Good," Chat said. "Then I expect we'll start to see you on patrols too."

"Now come on, Kitty," Ladybug said. "We need to put these back in the Miracle Box and head to our separate homes."

"Lie," Aquilla whispered.

"Fine," Ladybug said, smirking at the Kwami. "We're going back to my place and we're going to cuddle until sunrise because I'm exhausted and I need Kitty Cuddles."

"Truth!" Aquilla said.

"Wait…wait…What?" Alya demanded.

"Bug out!" Ladybug said, swinging away with Chat Noir right behind her.


	15. Veriteagle

_Chloé Bourgeois pled guilty today to Aiding and Abetting a Terrorist, Receiving Stolen Property, Threatening Public Safety, and minor infractions of international law (The willful exposure of Superhero Identities is felony in most countries, though France currently has no such laws on the books). Ladybug herself showed up on the final day of the trial to testify against Miss Bourgeois. Ladybug also requested leniency given the help that Chloé has been on previous occasions against the Akumas known as Maledictator, Miracular, and during the Heroes Day attack. Ladybug's request, Miss Bourgeois's past service, and her young age; Miss Bourgeois was sentenced to 5 years of House Arrest and Community Service. The Mayor refuses to comment on the outcome of the trial, but when asked, Miss Bourgeois's response to the sentence was that it was "Ridiculous, Utterly ridiculous."_

"Nooroo, I renounce you," Nathalie said quietly as the Kwami vanished into the broach. She leaned upon her cane She swatted at the black akuma with her tablet and transformed.

"I am Mnemosyne," she said. "Mistress of Memory. I return yours Gabriel Agreste."

She blew a kiss at him, and an electric blue set of lips landed on his forehead. They vanished and Gabriel shuddered.

"Are you all right, sir?" Mnemosyne asked as Gabriel's signature scowl returned to his face.

"Ladybug outplayed me," he admitted, picking up the Butterfly Miraculous. "Akumatizing her again would be disastrous."

"It almost was," Nathalie said, as Nooroo quietly recalled the Butterfly himself, letting it turn white and rejoin its brethren. "You've been up here almost a week. No one has noticed your absence except me. And I wasn't well enough to actually investigate until today."

"That does explain the hunger," Gabriel admitted.

"I shared my pistachios with you, Master," Nooroo said quietly. "But I didn't have much to begin with. You only allow a handful of the nuts on hand for me to recharge with."

"That was…generous of you, Nooroo," Gabriel said, slightly taken aback.

"I am the embodiment of Generosity, Master," Nooroo said quietly.

"Nathalie, see to it that Nooroo is provided with a bag of pistachios on hand at all times," Gabriel said. Then he cocked his eyebrow. "No one noticed my absence?"

Nathalie shook her head.

"Not even Adrien?" Gabriel looked slightly hurt.

"You are so busy sir," Nathalie admitted. "He often goes a month or more without seeing you."

Gabriel furrowed his brow. "All the more reason to get his mother back as soon as possible. If we can't Akumatize Ladybug…perhaps if we found out her secret identity."

"The Auxiliary Heroes identities could provide us with some insight into hers," Nathalie suggested.

"Yes! Of course!" Gabriel said, and then frowned. "I…have forgotten who they were. But…I know my recent Akumas have been targeting them…LADYBUG!"

"She must have erased the knowledge from your conscious and subconscious mind, Master," Nooroo said. "I'm afraid that knowledge is lost forever, even reakumatizing Miss Nathalie will not be able to retrieve it."

"Do you remember who they are, Nooroo?" Gabriel asked. The Butterfly kwami nodded. "I do master. But I can't—"

"You will tell me their names, Nooroo," Gabriel demanded. Nooroo looked distraught for a moment, but then smiled almost maliciously. He opened his mouth, and immediately burped a series of pink bubbles.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"OOOOH!" Trixx whispered excitedly. "Deviled Eggs! Yum."

"You ate half of my omelet this morning, Trixx," Alya said, "How can you still be hungry?"

"Because eggs are delicious," Trixx said, looking around to make sure that none of the party guests were watching, and then dipped out of Alya's purse and snatched up four deviled eggs from the buffet table and shot back into the purse. "And this is nothing. Never get between Plagg and a cheese tray."

Nino jumped wildly as a party barge goer bumped into him.

"You're not worried about Lila showing up are you?" Alya asked her boyfriend. "You know that she was lying about having a ticket to this place."

"Nah, I'm just anxious about meeting Adrien's new girl," Nino admitted. "Dude's been so mysterious…"

"Speak of the deviled eggs," Alya said as Adrien approached them through the crowd.

"So," Alya said. "Where's the future Mrs. Agreste?"

Adrien flushed. "She's around. I haven't seen her yet myself, but she confirmed she's on board via text. Probably got flagged down by Jagged."

"I'm dying to meet this girl who managed to snatch you away from both Kagami and my girl Marinette—_TRIXX stop stealing eggs! You're going to get my Miraculous taken away again!"_ This last part was a hissed whisper that Adrien pretended not to notice as he casually shuffled himself next to the cheese tray so that Plagg could slip out and munch on the camembert.

"There you are," Adrien heard Marinette's melodious voice from behind him and he spun around to face her.

"Wow," he breathed.

Marinette was wearing her hair down, which was such a rare treat, that Adrien had only seen it once before, but he'd commented to Kagami at the time how stunning she was when it had happened. She was wearing a just-slightly-too-small Jagged Stone tee that had been artfully 'shredded' to give it a faux 'lived-in' look. Adrien was sure she'd done that herself. Her bare midriff was exposed by the 'shreds' of the shirt. She wore a pair of black leather pants with a sparkling green belt, whose buckle—Plagg help him—had the signature Chat Noir Pawpad.

She threw her arms around his neck and pulled him into a kiss, which he enthusiastically returned.

Nino noticed them kissing and smiled, tapping Alya on the shoulder, as she was occupied scolding Trixx. She turned around and saw them.

"So this is the girl who—" Adrien and Marinette broke the kiss and grinned at their friends.

"Marinette! Your hair is down! I never see your—Wait…You're Adrien's Secret-I KNEW IT!"

Adrien and Marinette began giggling uncontrollably.

"You guys have been torturing me all week!" Alya said.

"Guilty!" Adrien said.

"But we don't FEEL guilty, because it was fun," Marinette said.

"I don't know whether to kill you guys or hug you!" Alya screamed. "How!?"

"I wore her down," Adrien said.

"Took advantage of my feelings, more like," Marinette said rolling her eyes.

"I almost lost you, Princess," Adrien said shaking his head. "With Kagami and Luka and that stupid love square. I'm not taking any chances. You're mine now!"

He swept her into a hug and pulled her close. She turned around in his embrace and looked over at Alya and Nino, Adrien resting his head on Marinette's shoulder.

"Uh-oh," Nino said, his face breaking into a grin. "Looks like we have competition for the school's cutest couple."

"There's no competition," Adrien said. "I think we all know that it's…"

"Ivan and Mylène," Marinette said.

"Rose and Juleka," Adrien said.

"I'm breaking up with you," Marinette said.

"You know that they're equally cute," Adrien teased back.

"Yeah, don't worry," Alya said dryly. "You two dorks will be taking the title away from both of them easily."

"Ready to make it official princess?" Adrien asked. Marinette giggled.

**Adrien Agreste is in a Relationship with Marinette Dupain-Cheng**

**Nino Lahiffe, Alya Césaire, Kagami Tsurugi and Luka Couffaine *HEART* this.**

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"It was soooo cool," Lila was saying as Alya, Nino, Marinette, and Adrien entered the park. Lila was sitting on a table regaling Rose, Juleka, Ivan, Mylène, Nathaniel and Marc with tales from last night's river concert.

The two couples took note of Max and Alix—holding hands, next to Kim and Ondine, also holding hands, and Markov, all five standing (or floating in Markov's case) off to the side, and all giving Lila suspicious glares, save Ondine, whose attention seemed focused on Kim.

"I looked for you everywhere, Alya!" Lila called out, seeing her arrive. "We must have just kept missing each other."

"We were with Adrien and his girlfriend by the buffet table most of the night," Alya said, winking at her friends. "I don't see how you could have missed us."

There came a series of giggles from about half of the teens, clearly the ones who had seen Adrien and Marinette's recent Social Media statuses. Lila had not yet gotten the memo, clearly.

"Well that explains it," Lila said. "I was backstage most of the night. Never made it to the buffet table. Pity too, I was so hungry."

"How did you two stand her?" Alya demanded of Marinette and Adrien.

"'But Marinette, why would she lie?'" Marinette said. "'Who would lie about being friends with a superhero?'"

Alya winced. "Wow…was…was that me?"

Adrien and Marinette nodded.

"Okay well I'm going to put an end to-," Alya stopped talking.

"Excuse me," A transformed Monk Master Gao in full Eagle Hero costume said, entering the park and pushing past a very surprised Alya. The Auxiliary heroes all snapped to attention, recognizing the Eagle-Themed hero from the Louvre last week.

"There you are," Gao said, stopping and looking directly at Lila. He reached onto his belt and pulled out his 'weapon' which was a pair of scales. He plucked a feather from his cape and placed it on a scale. It shimmered and transformed into a dart.

"Your lies were making my Kwami sick from halfway across the city," Gao said, picking up the dart. He flicked it at Lila, it lodged into her shoulder.

"OW! What the heck, you psycho!" Lila demanded. The dart suddenly vanished and a glowing white aura surrounded Lila.

"There," Gao said. "That should take care of the problem."

"What did you do to me?" she said, trying to wave away the white Aura.

"My Miraculous power will force you to speak only the truth until I transform back. As an adult, I don't have a time limit, and I'm not changing back any time soon."

Alya's face suddenly lit up.

"So what time did you get back from the concert last night?" Alya asked.

"I was never at the concert, I stayed in trying to figure out how to get Marinette expelled again," Lila said casually, then her eyes widened as she realized what she had said.

A series of indignant cries went up from the teens surrounding her.

"How could you!" Alya said grinning. "Jagged Stone would be so disappointed with you bullying his favorite designer. And after you saved his cat too."

"I've never met Jagged Stone…" Lila started to say, but then clamped her hands over her mouth.

"But Lila!" Alix said running over. "You said-."

"Finally," Gao said. "Poor Aquilla hasn't gotten any…"

He stopped, taking note of Marinette and Adrien, glancing at Adrien's hand and Marinette's ears. He paused for a moment and glanced back at Lila.

"The nuisance that bordered on being a threat?" he inquired.

Marinette swallowed and then nodded.

"Ah, two birds with one stone then," Gao said. "Don't tell Aquilla I said that, he hates that turn of phrase. I'll be walking back to Tibet, and intend to remain transformed during my journey. Should take six or seven months depending upon how many of these modern conveyances I choose to indulge along the way."

The couple suddenly grinned.

"But Master Gao!" Adrien said. "We didn't get you anything! Do you want our first born child? My entire life savings? I'm still not sure that will compare to the gift you just gave us!"

Marinette was trying hard to not laugh uncontrollably, as Lila kept trying to defend herself every time she spoke, but just ended up outing more of her own lies.

"ACTUALLY I HATE LADYBUG!" she suddenly yelled, then clamped her hands over her mouth again.

Adrien suddenly nudged Marinette and pointed at the single black butterfly that was flittering towards Lila and the increasingly angry teens surrounding her.

"Looks like Hawkmoth is back," Adrien said.

"This is gonna be a bad one, I can tell already," Marinette said. "You want to keep the Akuma distracted while I go get the Turtle, Horse, and Monkey?"

"Yeah, I'm on it, Bugaboo," Adrien said. "And I'm sure that Rena will be too."

"Would you care for an assist?" Gao asked cocking his head.

"The more the Merrier, Master Gao," Adrien said, ducking behind the Ladybug and Chat Noir statue.

"Call me…'Veriteagle'," Gao said smiling.


	16. The Best Policy

Lila ran as fast as she could, trying to outpace her pursuers.

"Got anything to say for your lies, Liar-La?" Princess Fragrance demanded landing behind her. Lila swore under her breath, she was so sure that she'd lost her.

"Yes!" Lila said, still compelled to tell the truth. "I wish that I had gotten that Akuma instead of you. Then maybe I'd be getting revenge on that stupid Bird-Man."

"You lie to us for months!" Princess Fragrance said. "You've hurt Marinette! You deserve what's coming to you!"

"ROSE STOP!" Juleka yelled from the end of the Alley. The sight and sound of Juleka yelling stopped both girls in their tracks.

Ladybug suddenly leapt down and grabbed Lila, leaping up to the rooftop.

"It's about time you got here, you useless bug," Lila snapped.

"Don't complain about rescues you don't like," Chat Noir said dryly.

"This one hundred percent your fault, Lila," Ladybug said.

"It's that stupid Bird-Man's fault!" Lila protested.

"Veriteagle wouldn't have used his powers on you, if you hadn't been such a liar, Lila," Ladybug countered. "Absolutely your fault. Enjoy the next few months of speaking the absolute truth, and nothing but the truth."

Ladybug and Chat Noir leapt off of the roof, leaving Lila on top of it. She ran to the edge of the roof and looked down, seeing Princess Fragrance surrounded by King Monkey, Pegasus, Rena Rouge, Ladybug, and Chat Noir.

"I would have thought that you would have learned from Miracle Guardian," Ladybug said. "You can't use the Ladybug and Black Cat Miraculouses to alter reality Hawkmoth. The price is too high."

"Forget it milady," Chat Noir said, smashing Rose's perfume bottle. "Some people just don't learn."

_The Ladybug and Black Cat Miraculouses can alter reality?_ Lila thought in surprise.

"Miraculous Ladybug!" Ladybug yelled as a wave of healing Ladybugs swarmed over Paris. Lila looked excitedly over her own body, but frowned. The white aura surrounding her had remained even after the healing wave.

"Stupid useless heroes," she muttered.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Adrien and Marinette sat on a picnic blanket cuddling in the park, a spread of food from the Bakery and Alya's mother's new restaurant Le Chevrewere scattered about the oversized blanket.

"Oh my Gosh," Rose was squealing, cuddled up next to Juleka. "You guys are so cute together! I can't believe that Project Secret Garden finally came true!"

"Project Secret Garden?" Adrien asked, cocking an eyebrow at Marinette, who smirked.

"Nope," she said. "A girl has to keep some dignity. You will never get to find out what that one is."

"I'll tell you later," Alix said. "You'll think it's hilarious."

"Alix!" Marinette said.

The teens all started giggling.

Lila glared at them from out of her bedroom window, angrily batting at the white aura that refused to leave her alone.

"Enjoy yourself while you can, Marinette," Lila sneered. "Once I figure out how to take Ladybug and Chat Noir's Miraculous, I'll change reality itself with my wish, and make all of my dreams come true."

"_M_i _Bella,"_ Lila's mother said as she enter her bedroom. "I just received an email from your school's headmaster saying that he wishes to meet with me next week?"

Lila opened her mouth automatically to lie to her mother but instead said,

"He probably wants to talk to you about my months of absences and various doctor's notes that I forged,"

Lila's eyes suddenly widened as she realized what she had just said out loud.

"What?" Lila's mom said, blinking at her daughter.

"Or..or maybe he wants to review the events when I deliberately got my goodie-two shoes classmate Marinette expelled….SHIT!"

"I think we're going to have that meeting tomorrow," Lila's mom said. "And you're grounded. Assuming that you don't get arrested for Truancy. Anything else you wish to share with me, Lila?"

"Nothing I want to share," Lila snapped. "But that stupid Truth-Spell that Miraculous User put on me makes me share anyway! ARRGH. I wish that Hawkmoth would just Akumatize me again already…"

"Akumatize you AGAIN?"

"SHIT!"


End file.
